Procter & Gamble

Consumer
NYSE: PG
USA

"Procter & Gamble Co. confirmed today that the company plans to stop selling products in Iran as a result of President Donald Trump pulling the United States out of an agreement to limit Tehran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons." (6/4/2018).

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"Like many Western firms, Procter & Gamble Co. is eyeing new opportunities in Iran following the relaxing of trade sanctions earlier this year. But for a Swiss subsidiary of the U.S. consumer goods giant, Iran already is a very familiar market. Starting with market research in 2003, and culminating with more than $100 million in sales in the year ended in mid-2010, Geneva-based Procter & Gamble International Operations SA’s business in 'Parthia'—an in-house byword for the Middle Eastern country—was a success story. The operation relied on a legal exception. Until 2012, foreign subsidiaries of American firms could do business in Iran, as long as no U.S. passport or green-card holders were involved. Internal Procter & Gamble International Operations documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal provide a rare glimpse into the careful, behind-the-scenes efforts undertaken on behalf of U.S. companies to do business legally in Iran several years ago, amid the sanctions—which have barred trade, with limited exceptions... A P&G spokeswoman said, 'We are looking to increase the distribution of our existing brands and expand the portfolio of brands' in Iran, and making a related hiring effort." (Wall Street Journal, "After a Taste of Doing Business in Iran, P&G Is Eger to Re-Engage," 7/13/2016)