Wipro buys Canway Corporation

The consumer care business of software provider Wipro Ltd has made its second overseas acquisition this year with a deal to buy a South African brand.

Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting has bought Canway Corporation, which markets its offerings in categories such as bath & shower, hand creams, fragranced body sprays, and kids’ products through brands such as Oh So Heavenly, Iwori and IQ. The deal amount was not disclosed.

Canway sells its Oh So Heavenly brand items through Clicks, one of the leading health and beauty retailers in South Africa. Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting’s South African acquisition comes after the consumer care business acquired Filipino personal care firm Splash. With the purchase of Splash came brands including SkinWhite (body lotions) and Vitress (hair conditioner).

Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting has made a number of overseas acquisitions. In 2016, it bought Chinese fast-moving consumer goods company Zhongshan Ma Er Daily Products Ltd in an all-cash deal. Its first acquisition was in 2003, when it bought Glucovita, a glucose brand from Hindustan Unilever. In subsequent years, it added Chandrika (2004), Unza (2007), Yardley - Middle East, North Africa and Australasia (2009), Yardley UK (2012), and LD Waxsons Group (2012). Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting has also launched a venture capital fund called Wipro Consumer Care–Ventures.