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By Cliff Peale Enquirer staff writer

The Rembrandt line of tooth-whitening products is the next brand that could be sold to clear the way for Procter & Gamble Co.’s acquisition of Gillette Co. Boston-based Gillette has started soliciting bids for Rembrandt, a mergers trade publication in New York reported Thursday. This follows the sale announcement for P&G’s SpinBrush power toothbrush business, which already has drawn bids, the Daily Deal reported.

Neither company would comment on the potential divestitures, which could also include deodorants. P&G agreed to the SpinBrush sale to gain clearance from the European Union in mid-July for the Gillette acquisition. Its last remaining approval before it can close the deal is the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Although there are only a few overlaps between the two companies, one of the biggest is in oral care, with P&G’s Crest franchise and Gillette’s Oral-B and Rembrandt lines.

P&G will keep the Oral-B toothbrush line when it sells SpinBrush. In whitening, Crest Whitestrips is the clear market leader, with Rembrandt now No. 2. P&G said in late January that it would pay 0.975 shares for each Gillette share, a deal valued at $57 billion on announcement. It will combine P&G franchises including Tide, Pampers and Olay with Gillette’s powerhouse blades-and-razors business. The companies still hope to close the acquisition this fall. E-mail cpeale@enquirer.com