Until May 2017 Ansell Condom brands were marketed globally through the Personal Healthcare division of Australian based Ansell, and their main office in Red Bank, NJ, US. Ansell marketed branded condoms worldwide, each with its own unique marketing strategy that has been tailored to the particular country or region. Their brands around the globe included LifeStyles (for the US market), Mates (for the UK market), KamaSutra (for the Indian market)
and other local adapted brands.
Additionally, the company participates in the public sector market where condoms are supplied through health and social welfare programmes and agencies, mainly in developing countries around the world.
In May 2017 the Ansell Personal Healthcare division was acquired by China’s Humanwell Healthcare Group Co Ltd and CITIC Capital China Partners (in the rest of the case the consortium is called Humanwell & CITIC) for US$600 million .
Ansell’s brands included Jissbon, which sounds like James Bond in Mandarin, and it is the second-
largest brand in China behind Durex. It also competes with large local brands Donless, Double Butterfly, Daxiang and Gobon. Jissbon was a Chinese brand that was acquired by Ansell in 2006.
Global manufacturing Estimated worldwide condom production is around 24 billion pieces annually (2018). Currently there are about 100 manufacturing plants operating globally.
The majority of these plants manufacture only

condoms made from natural rubber latex, and some also produce other latex products, such as gloves, finger cots and catheters. The majority of the plants are therefore in locations that have natural rubber latex plantations and where labour costs are competitive.
The production of condoms is much more labour-intensive than that of glove manufacturing, because of more stringent testing needs, more complicated packaging and significant product differentiation.
An estimate of condom production per country in 2014 is shown in Table 1.
World market for male condoms
Condoms offer protection against both unwanted pregnancies (contraception) and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The latter property is unique to condoms. Although there is considerable superficial variation in the types of condoms available (e.g.
ribbed, thin and thick), there has been little fundamental change in the latex condom over the years.
Organizations that are part of the global public health sector currently distribute approximately 12 billion male condoms, generally free of charge or at

Questions
1. What are the differences between the global strategies of Humanwell & CITIC and the other three competitors?
2. Which entry mode would you recommend for Humanwell & CITIC’s global sourcing of condoms?
3. Which entry mode would you recommend for Humanwell & CITIC regarding the Chinese market?
4. What are the pros and cons of Humanwell & CITIC acquiring a European competitor? In your opinion, is it a good idea?