Reckitt Essential
Home Divestment

£4.6 billion divestment of Reckitt's Essential Home brands to Advent International. Required splitting 70 brands across 100+ countries, separating 250+ applications, petabytes of data, and shared infrastructure supporting 40,000 employees globally — all by 1st January 2026.

SmartCo’s Approach

SmartCo provided strategic advisory and programme management leadership across four workstreams: Applications, Infrastructure, Data, and Contracts & Sourcing. We deployed specialist project managers and a comprehensive PMO, introducing innovative solutions including AI-driven tooling, hybrid agile delivery frameworks, and a structured transition plan.

Key outcomes

Accelerated delivery: Completed in 4.5 months versus typical 12-18 month timeframe
Application consolidation: Reduced 250+ applications by approximately 60%
Critical milestone delivery: Successfully navigated tollgate processes including significant TG0 milestone
Strategic partnership: Achieved trusted advisor status with ongoing collaboration beyond initial scope

The impact

The successful separation enables Reckitt to realise full strategic value whilst demonstrating operational excellence in complex M&A execution — creating lasting competitive advantages and market confidence for future transactions.

The successful separation enables Reckitt to realise full strategic value whilst demonstrating operational excellence in complex M&A execution — creating lasting competitive advantages and market confidence for future transactions.

Senior Director