Chinese group buys world's No. 2 condom maker

A Chinese consortium is buying Ansell’s condom division, the world’s no. 2 condom maker, for $600 million, betting on surging demand in China as sex becomes less of a taboo subject and more emphasis is placed on public health education. The Australian firm, which put its oldest but smallest division up for sale last August, said it had reached an all-cash deal with China’s Humanwell Healthcare Group Co Ltd and CITIC Capital China Partners, Reuters reports. Ansell’s brands include Jissbon, which sounds like James Bond in Chinese, and it is the second-largest maker in China behind Reckitt Benckiser which owns Durex. It also competes with large local brands Donless, Double Butterfly and Gobon. Foreign brands tend to have more of a cachet in China after some scandals involving cheap Chinese products.