THE entrepreneur trying to take on the giants of the shaving industry is to split his company in two after raising £4m to fund global expansion.

Will King, who began marketing his King of Shaves lotion in 1993, is to demerge the division of his company that produces shaving products under licence for other brands including Ted Baker.

This will allow King to focus on the manufacturing business, which last year expanded into making razors with the launch of the Azor. The product is designed to break up a market dominated by Gillette and Wilkinson Sword.

King has raised the £4m from his brother Doug, a fellow shareholder and hedge-fund manager, and it will be used to launch the Azor in countries including America, Japan, Brazil and South Africa. The company hopes to capture a significant slice of the £5 billion razorblade market.

The British launch has proved a hit, with the company claiming to have sold almost 600,000 Azor “handles” since it went on sale last summer – about 9% of the market.

King has also introduced a woman’s version of the razor, called the Azure. He is hoping to increase group sales to between £100m and £200m over the next few years.

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