The King of Shaves Company to Demerge and Accelerate Global Brand Growth

King of Shaves (http://www.shave.com/), the men's grooming brand owned by KMI is to be demerged in a £4m deal, with the focus on accelerating global sales growth of its award winning Azor razor. The King of Shaves Company Ltd. will be headed by Founder & CEO, Will King; KMI will be headed by Hiten Dayal, King's business partner. Chris Outram, Chairman of London based OC&C strategy consultants will join both companies as non-executive Chairman, along with Atul Sharma as Group Finance Director.

(PRWEB) April 20, 2009 -- Chesham based KMI, the CBI Real Business 'Company of the Year' 2008, has announced a strategic demerger of its business into twin companies designed to accelerate sales growth and consumer awareness of its brands which include King of Shaves (http://www.shave.com), the UK's second most popular men's shaving brand.

The King of Shaves Company Ltd., will be headed by founder Will King as CEO, and supported by a strong sales & marketing team including Andy Hill and Tim Wright.

KMI will be headed by King's business partner, Hiten Dayal as CEO., KMI will continue to develop a strong portfolio of brands including Ted Baker Fragrance, Toiletries & Cosmetics, Fish & Angelfish Styling, Beautifully Delicious & This Works.

The company also announced inward investment of £4m from King's brother & fellow shareholder Doug King, co-founder and chief investment officer of Aisling Analytics, headquartered in Singapore, who manage the US$1.3 billion Merchant Commodity Fund, one the world's largest and most successful commodity funds.

Will King said: "Launching the King of Shaves Azor system razor successfully in 2008, gives the King of Shaves a genuine opportunity to become a serious global challenger brand in the world's shaving market, building on the strong foundations of the past sixteen years. We believe," added King, "that this demerger will accelerate retail sales towards my target of, firmly establishing the King of Shaves as a genuine global contender in men's grooming. With market launches in Brazil, Japan and the USA planned for 2009, it's now time for King of Shaves to 'shave the world better, forever'."

Hiten Dayal commented: "KMI will develop a highly profitable, innovative portfolio of brands sold by major UK retailers including Boots, Sainsbury & Tesco. My brand development team and I will be concentrating on the organic growth of these brands over the coming years, in addition to signing new licenses and effecting mergers or acquisitions of complementary brands or businesses such as our successful acquisition & integration of Floraroma Ltd last year. We are confident that these challenging times will provide great opportunities to enable us to thrive and grow strongly."

For more information please contact:

Rania Johnson at Brian Maclaurin Associates

+44 20834 1806

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