The brand monster with the bulging bathroom cabinet

The tie-up between Gillette and Procter & Gamble will create a true his'n'hers company that will dominate bathroom cabinets around the globe.

The tie-up between Gillette and Procter & Gamble will create a true his'n'hers company that will dominate bathroom cabinets around the globe.

Dubbed the "dream deal" by Warren Buffett, a Gillette shareholder, the new company should largely avoid anti-trust headaches because so few of its product categories overlap.

For every Gillette Mach 3 razor, P&G has a Max Factor lipstick. Gillette's similarly manly selection of Braun shavers find no peers in P&G's assortment of feminine hygiene goodies such as Tampax and Always.

Outside the bathroom, the new company will also boast brands such as Pringles crisps and Duracell batteries.

At $61bn, the new group's combined sales will trump Unilever's annual turnover by some $10bn, aptly putting it head and shoulders (another P&G brand) ahead of its global personal care rivals.

Putting the two companies together should enable P&G's able management, led for the past five years by Alan (known as AG) Lafley, to reap a whopping $14bn to $16bn in total cost cuts. The savings will come from slashing 6,000 jobs - or 4 per cent of the combined global 140,000 workforce. Employees in back-office and managerial roles are most at risk, although P&G said it would take "some weeks" to be more specific.

One job at least is safe: James Kilts, the former Nabisco executive who became the first outsider to run Gillette when he was appointed in 2001, will join P&G as vice-president for at least 12 months.

Mr Kilts' efforts to increase Gillette's productivity have already seen him axe some 5,500 jobs. His brutality in the UK, which saw him announce the closure of its iconic Isleworth plant in west London, could mean its remaining employees in Reading and Wrexham escape relatively lightly. The future for P&G's 5,000 UK employees, dotted around the country from Weybridge to Newcastle, looked less sure, however.

In an all-share deal, P&G is issuing 0.975 shares for each Gillette share.