According to market sources, Hindustan Lever had earlier been interested in the brand but recently the interest level has shot up, with HLL and Pond's officials approaching the promoters repeatedly to buy the brand.

Confirming that HLL had indeed repeatedly approached the company for buying out Medimix and the recently launched Vrinda brands, Cholayil Pharmaceuticals director AV Anoop said said his company was not interested in selling the brand. Medimix is the driving brand for the company which has recently extended the brand name to its ayurveda-based pharmaceutical products, he added.

He, however, declined to place a value on the brand equity of Medimix saying that it was confidential.

Over the past three months HLL had approached the companydirectly and through Pond's India for a possible buy-out, said market sources.

When contacted, HLL spokesperson Debasis Ray declined to comment saying that it was the company's policy not to discuss any possible acquisitions. Apparently, Godrej Soaps had earlier expressed interest in the Medimix brand but later dropped out of the race.

Analysts in the city said that the purchase of the brand would make sense for Hindustan Lever if the company plans an entry into the herbal products market and also further strengthen its hold over the toilet soaps segment by catering to all segments of the market. Moreover, since Medimix already has a presence in some overseas markets, particularly the Gulf regions, HLL could further enhance its export revenue through the brand acquisition.

Medimix has a strong brand presence in the southern markets, where it is generally perceived as a low-end brand. It is promoted as a purely ayurvedic product. The other soap brand, Vrinda, which was launched about six months ago istargeted at the slightly premium category of herbal product users, but the brand is yet to make a significant impact in the market.

The only other brand present in the same segment as Medimix is Chandrika, which was earlier the leader in the segment but later lost ground to Medimix.Medimix is available only in five states including the four southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and Maharashtra. The value of the brand, according to analyst sources, will not be very high and hence the acquisition could be fairly easy for the multinational giant.

Cholayil Pharmaceuticals and its associate companies are family-owned. The turnover of the group was pegged at Rs 80 crore for the fiscal year 1997-98, of which Medimix sales are estimated to have contributed over 90 per cent. The soaps are entirely handmade, with no machinery at the manufacturing units loacted in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Pondicherry and Karnataka.