Durex maker SSL awaits firm bid

UK condom maker SSL International has refused to comment on reports it may be subject to a takeover early in 2005.

A Financial Times report said business intelligence firm GPW was understood to be starting due diligence work on SSL International, for a corporate client. An spokesman for SSL, which makes the famous Durex brand of condom, would not to comment on "market speculation". However the news sent shares in SSL, which also makes Scholl footwear, up more than 6%, or 16.75 pence to 293.5p.

The FT said most the high-profile firm that might woo SSL was Anglo-Dutch household products group Reckitt Benckiser. Eighteen months ago Reckitt Benckiser was at the centre of a rumoured takeover bid for SSL - but that came to nothing. Other firms that have been seen as would-be suitors include Kimberly-Clark, Johnson & Johnson, and private equity investors. Analysts have seen SSL as a takeover target for years. It sold off its surgical gloves and antiseptics businesses for £173m to a management team in May. SSL was formed by a three-way merger between Seton Healthcare, footwear specialists Scholl and condom-maker London International Group. Its other brands include Syndol analgesic, Meltus cough medicine, Sauber compression hosiery and deodorant products, and Mister Baby.