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Procter & Gamble buy 1% of OcadoWaitrose home delivery partner sells £5m stake

28 November 2008

Waitrose

Procter & Gamble has bought a £5m stake in online grocery store Ocado

Proctor & Gamble, famed for well-known cosmetics brands Gillette and Olay, sealed the deal as part of an £18m fundraising drive by Ocado, which recorded net debt of £110m at the end of last year.

Ocado works in partnership with Waitrose, the number one retailer according to our most recent survey of high street shops, to offer grocery home delivery nationwide.

Ocado losses

The £5m purchase represents a 1% stake in Ocado, which posted annual losses of £39.7m in September and a dip in sales growth of 20%.

Higher fuel costs and increased price competition are thought to have hit the online retailer. But it said it had cut prices on many branded goods to match Tesco’s offers, and delivery charges are unchanged.

The investment is the first by Procter & Gamble into a retail business, reports say.

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