elmex is owned by Colgate-Palmolive (the United States, NYSE: CL), which acquired the brand on 1 May 2004.[1][2] elmex was founded in 1962 in Switzerland and was independent until 2004.
Evidence: Colgate-Palmolive Company Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-23, SEC EDGAR, 23 February 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
elmex is a Swiss fluoride toothpaste brand sold through pharmacies and recommended by dentists, formulated with amine fluoride developed at the University of Zurich in the 1950s. Colgate-Palmolive acquired it with the GABA oral care business in 2004, adding a pharmacy channel it had lacked in Europe.
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central.
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Colgate-Palmolive ownership tree →
See the full Colgate-Palmolive brand portfolio (15) →
Colgate-Palmolive controls 15 brands on Brandtree, 10 of them in personal care & beauty.
Colgate-Palmolive has more brands in toothpaste & toothbrushes on Brandtree than any other owner: 5 of 42.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Desensin | Dentaid | 🇪🇸 Spain |
| Close-Up | Unilever | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| Parodontax | Haleon | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| Pepsodent (United States) | Church & Dwight | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Bioniq | Dr. Wolff Group | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| CLINICA | Lion | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Elgydium | Pierre Fabre | 🇫🇷 France |
| Crest | Procter & Gamble | 🇺🇸 United States |
Colgate-Palmolive is a publicly listed company headquartered in New York, United States, founded in 1806. Brandtree records 15 brands under its control, and it is listed as NYSE: CL.
Colgate-Palmolive traces to a New York soap and candle business started in 1806 and took its present form in 1928. Oral care is its largest business, and its Hill's Pet Nutrition subsidiary is a major veterinary pet food maker.
Colgate-Palmolive: full profile, brands and acquisition history →
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 128 brands that began in Switzerland. 35 of them (27%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, elmex among them.
Colgate-Palmolive acquired GABA Holding, a Swiss oral care company selling elmex and meridol through European pharmacies. The purchase gave Colgate a pharmacy channel and a specialist reputation in Europe that its mass-market toothpaste could not reach on its own. The price was not disclosed.
The parent company of elmex is Colgate-Palmolive, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.
elmex originated in Switzerland in 1962, but it is owned today by Colgate-Palmolive, which is headquartered in the United States. So elmex is a Swiss-origin brand under American ownership.
Colgate-Palmolive completed its acquisition of elmex on 1 May 2004, after announcing the deal on 1 March 2004. The price was not disclosed.
elmex was an independent company from its founding in 1962 until Colgate-Palmolive acquired it in 2004.
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, elmex is still owned by Colgate-Palmolive. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
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