Unilever

Unilever plc
Unilever N.V.

Unilever House

Unilever head office building in London

Type Dual-listed
Public limited company
Naamloze vennootschap

Traded as LSE: ULVR

Euronext: UNA
NYSE: UN, UL
FTSE 100 Component
TTSE: UCL

Industry Consumer goods

 Lever Brothers
Predecessor
 Margarine Unie
Founded 2 September 1929; 89 years ago (by
merger)[1]

Founders  William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme

 James Darcy Lever
 Samuel van den Bergh
 Georg Schicht
 Singrose

Headquarters Unilever House, London, UK

Rotterdam, Netherlands

Area served Worldwide

Key people  Marijn Dekkers

 (Chairman)
 Alan Jope
 (CEO)

Products Foods, beverages, cleaning

agents and beauty & personal care products

Revenue US$62.622 billion (2017)[2]

Operating income US$10.325 billion (2017)[2]

Net income US$7.561 billion (2017)[2]

Total assets US$70.278 billion (2017)[2]

Total equity US$16.771 billion (2017)[2]

Owners Legal & General

Aviva
M&G Investments
NFU Mutual
Lindsell Train[3]

Number of 169,000 (2017)[4]

 employees

Website www.unilever.com

Unilever is a British-Dutch transnational consumer goods company co-headquartered

in London, United Kingdom and Rotterdam, Netherlands. Its products include food and beverages
(about 40 per cent of its revenue), cleaning agents and beauty & personal care products. It is
Europe’s seventh most valuable company.[5] Unilever is one of the oldest multinational companies; its
products are available in around 190 countries.[6]
Unilever owns over 400 brands, with a turnover in 2017 of 53.7 billion euros,[7] and thirteen brands
with sales of over one billion euros:[8] Axe/Lynx, Dove, Omo, Heartbrand ice
creams, Hellmann's, Knorr, Lipton, Lux, Magnum, Rexona/Degree, Sunsilk and Surf.[6] It is a dual-
listed company consisting of Unilever plc, based in London, and Unilever N.V., based in Rotterdam.
The two companies operate as a single business, with a common board of directors. Unilever is
organised into four main divisions – Foods, Refreshment (beverages and ice cream), Home Care,
and Beauty & Personal Care. It has research and development facilities in the United Kingdom (two),
the Netherlands, China, India and the United States.[9]
Unilever was founded on September 2, 1929, by the merger of the Dutch margarine
producer Margarine Unieand the British soapmaker Lever Brothers. During the second half of the
20th century the company increasingly diversified from being a maker of products made of oils and
fats, and expanded its operations worldwide. It has made numerous corporate acquisitions, including
Lipton (1971), Brooke Bond (1984), Chesebrough-Ponds (1987), Best Foods (2000), Ben &
Jerry's (2000), Alberto-Culver (2010), Dollar Shave Club (2016) and Pukka Herbs (2017). Unilever
divested its speciality chemicals businesses to ICI in 1997. In the 2010s, under leadership of Paul
Polman, the company started gradually shifted its focus towards health and beauty brands and away
from food brands showing slow growth.[10]
Unilever plc has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE
100 Index. Unilever N.V. has a primary listing on Euronext Amsterdam and is a constituent of
the AEX index. The company is also a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.[11]

History
1870s–1910s
In 1872, Antoon Jurgens, founded the first margarine factory in the world in Oss, Netherlands. Then,
in 1888, Samuel van den Bergh, also from Oss, opened his margarine factory in Kleve. These two
companies merged in 1927 to form Margarine Unie.[12]
Lever House in Port Sunlight, United Kingdom, the former headquarters of Lever Brothers

The initial harvesting of palm oil was from British West Africa, from where news reports seen back in
England showed the workers abroad in favourable conditions.[13] In 1911, the company received a
concession for 750,000 hectares (1,900,000 acres) of forest in Belgian Congo, mostly south
of Bandundu, where a system of forced labour operated.[14]

1920s–1940s
In 1925, Lever Brothers acquired Mac Fisheries, owner of T. Wall & Sons.[15] In September 1929,
Unilever was formed by a merger of the operations of Dutch Margarine Unie and British
soapmaker Lever Brothers, with the name of the resulting company a portmanteau of the name of
both companies.[16]
In the 1930s, business grew and new ventures were launched in Africa and Latin America. The Nazi
occupation of Europe during the Second World War meant that Unilever was unable to reinvest its
capital into Europe, so it instead acquired new businesses in the UK and the US.[17] In 1943, it
acquired T. J. Lipton, a majority stake in Frosted Foods (owner of the Birds Eye brand)
and Batchelors Peas, one of the largest vegetables canners in the UK.[15][18] In 1944, Pepsodent was
acquired.[18]
After 1945, Unilever's once successful US businesses (Lever Brothers and T.J. Lipton) began to
decline.[1] As a result, Unilever began to operate a "hands off" policy towards the subsidiaries, and
left American management to its own devices.[1]

1950s–1960s
Sunsilk was first launched in the UK in 1954.[19] Dove was first launched in the US in 1957.[19] Unilever
took full ownership of Frosted Foods in 1957, which it renamed Birds Eye.[20] The US-based Good
Humor ice cream business was acquired in 1961.[21]
By the mid-1960s, laundry soap and edible fats still contributed around half of Unilever's corporate
profits.[15] However, a stagnant market for yellow fats and increasing competition in detergents and
soaps from Procter & Gamble forced Unilever to diversify.[15] In 1971, Unilever acquired the British-
based Lipton Ltd from Allied Suppliers.[15] In 1978, National Starch was acquired for $487 million,
marking the largest ever foreign-acquisition of a US company at that point.[22]

1970s–1980s
By the end of the 1970s, through acquisitions, Unilever had gained 30 per cent of the Western
European ice cream market.[15] In 1982, Unilever management decided to reposition itself from an
unwieldy conglomerate to a more concentrated FMCG company.[23]
In 1984, Unilever acquired Brooke Bond (maker of PG Tips tea) for £390 million in the company's
first successful hostile takeover.[15] In 1986 Unilever strengthened its position in the world skin care
market by acquiring Chesebrough-Ponds (merged from Chesebrough Manufacturing and Pond's
Creams), the maker of Ragú, Pond's, Aqua-Net, Cutex, and Vaseline in another hostile
takeover.[23] In 1989, Unilever bought Calvin Klein Cosmetics, Fabergé, and Elizabeth Arden, but the
latter was later sold (in 2000) to FFI Fragrances.[24]

1990s
In 1993, Unilever acquired Breyers from Kraft, which made the company the largest ice cream
manufacturer in the United States.[25]
In 1996, Unilever merged Elida Gibbs and Lever Brothers in its UK operations.[26] It also
purchased Helene Curtis, significantly expanding its presence in the United States shampoo and
deodorant market.[24] The purchase brought Unilever the Suave and Finesse hair-care product
brands and Degree deodorant brand.[24]
In 1997, Unilever sold its speciality chemicals division, including National Starch & Chemical, Quest,
Unichema and Crosfield to Imperial Chemical Industries for £4.9 billion.[27]
Unilever established a sustainable agriculture programme in 1998.[28]

2000s

Global employment at Unilever 2000–08

Black represents employment numbers in Europe, light grey represents the Americas and dark grey represents
Asia and Africa.
Between 2000 and 2008 Unilever reduced global workforce numbers by 41%, from 295,000 to 174,000.
Notes: Europe figures for 2000–2003 are all Europe; from 2004 figures in black are Western Europe. For 2004–
2008 figures for Asia and Africa include Eastern and Central Europe.
Source: Unilever Annual Reports 2004, 2008

In April 2000, Unilever bought both Ben & Jerry's and Slim Fast for £1.63 billion.[27] Later that year,
the company acquired Best Foods for £13.4 billion.[27] The Bestfoods acquisition increased Unilever's
scale in foods in America, and added brands such as Knorr and Hellmann's to its portfolio.[27] The
transaction was the second largest cash acquisition in world business history.[27] In exchange for
European regulatory approval of the deal, Unilever divested itself of such well-known brands as Oxo,
Lesieur, McDonnells, Bla Band Royco and Batchelors.[27] The same year, the company bought
worldwide mustard and products firm Maille. Maille had three boutiques in Europe, all of which sell
mustard from the pump in the traditional Maille fashion. Paris, Dijon, France and London, UK. The
merge between Best Foods and Unilever was approved by the Israeli Anti trust agency.[29]
In 2001, Unilever split into two divisions: one for Foods and one for Home and Personal Care.[27] In
the UK, it merged its Lever Brothers and Elida Faberge businesses as Lever Faberge in January
2001.[30]
In September 2002, the company sold its specialty oils and fats division, Loders Croklaan, for
RM814 million (€218.5 million) to IOI Corporation, a Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based oil palm
company. As part of the deal, the Loders Croklaan brand will be maintained.[31]
Also in 2002, Unilever sold the Mazola, Argo & Kingsfords, Karo, Golden Griddle, and Henri's
brands, along with several Canadian brands, to ACH Food Companies, an American subsidiary
of Associated British Foods.[32][33]
In 2004, Unilever sold its share in Rushdi food industry to the Bashir family which started to use the
Baracke brand name.[34] As of 2014 Roshadi food industries was one of the three largest tahini
producers in Israel and one of the largest producers of Tahini worldwide.[35]
In May 2007, Unilever became the first large-scale company to commit to sourcing all its tea in a
sustainable manner,[36] employing the Rainforest Alliance, an international environmental NGO, to
certify its tea estates in East Africa, as well as third-party suppliers in Africa and other parts of the
world.[37] It declared its aim to have all LiptonYellow Label and PG Tips tea bags sold in Western
Europe certified by 2010, followed by all Lipton tea bags globally by 2015.[38]
In September 2009, Unilever agreed to acquire the personal care business of Sara Lee Corporation,
including brands such as Radox, Badedas and Duschdas, strengthening its category leadership in
skin cleansing and deodorants.[39] The Sara Lee acquisition was completed on 6 December 2010.[40]

2010–2014
In August 2010, Unilever signed an asset purchase agreement with the Norwegian dairy group
TINE, to acquire the activities of Diplom-Is in Denmark.[41]
In September 2010, Unilever announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell its
consumer tomato products business in Brazil to Cargill.[42]
In September 2010, Unilever purchased Alberto-Culver, a maker of personal care and household
products including Simple, VO5, Nexxus, TRESemmé, and Mrs. Dash, for US$3.7 billion.[43]
In September 2010, Unilever and EVGA announced that they had signed an agreement under which
Unilever would acquire EVGA's ice cream brands (amongst others, Scandal, Variete and Karabola)
and distribution network in Greece, for an undisclosed amount.[44]
In February 2011, Unilever announced that it will switch to 100% cage-free eggs for all products it
produces worldwide.[45]
In March 2011, it was announced that Unilever had entered into a binding agreement to sell the
Sanex brand to Colgate-Palmolive for €672 million, and that Unilever would acquire Colgate-
Palmolive's laundry detergent brands in Colombia (Fab, Lavomatic and Vel) for US$215 million.[46]
In April 2011, Unilever was fined €104 million by the European Commission for establishing a price-
fixing cartel in Europe along with P&G, who was fined €211.2 million, and Henkel (not fined). Though
the fine was set higher at first, it was discounted by 10% after Unilever and P&G admitted running
the cartel. As the provider of the tip-off leading to investigations, Henkel was not fined.[47]
In August 2011, it was announced that Unilever had agreed to sell the Alberto VO5 brand in the
United States and Puerto Rico, and the Rave brand globally, to Brynwood Partners VI L.P.[48]
In October 2011, it was announced that Unilever had agreed to acquire 82% of the Russia-based
beauty company Kalina.[49]
In December 2012, it was announced that Unilever would phase out the use of microplastics in the
form of microbeads in their personal care products by 2015.[50]
In January 2013, Unilever agreed to sell the Skippy peanut butter brand, together with related
manufacturing facilities in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States and Weifang, Shandong, China, to
Hormel Foods for approximately $700 million (£433 million, or approximately €540 million) in
cash.[51][52]
In July 2013, Unilever increased its stake in its Indian unit, Hindustan Unilever, to 67% for around
€2.45 billion.[53]
In August 2013, Unilever announced that it had signed an agreement for the sale of its Wish-Bone
and Western dressings brands to Pinnacle Foods Inc. for a total cash consideration of approximately
US$580 million, subject to regulatory approval.[54] On 6 September 2013, Unilever entered into a
definitive agreement to acquire the premium Australian tea brand T2.[55]
In February 2014, Unilever signed a definitive agreement for the sale of its meat snacks business,
including Peperami (UK/Ireland) and BIFI (continental Europe) to Jack Link's, for an undisclosed
amount.[56]
In March 2014, Unilever agreed to acquire a majority stake in the China-based water purification
company Qinyuan, which makes water purifiers, drinking water equipment and water treatment
membranes, for an undisclosed price.[57][58]
On 22 May 2014, the company announced it had sold its North America pasta sauces business
including the Ragú and Bertolli brands to Japanese company Mizkan in a deal worth $2.15 billion.[59]
On 10 July 2014, Unilever announced that it had sold its Slim-Fast brand to Kainos Capital, yet
retained a minority stake in the business.[60]
On 2 December 2014, Unilever announced that it had acquired Talenti Gelato & Sorbetto.
Minneapolis-based Talenti, which was founded in 2003, had grown into the best-selling
packaged gelato in the United States.[61]
On 22 December 2014, Unilever announced the purchase of the Camay brand globally and
the Zest brand outside of North America and the Caribbean from Procter & Gamble.[62]
Hampton Creek lawsuit[edit]
In November 2014, Unilever filed a lawsuit against rival Hampton Creek.[63] In the suit,[64] Unilever
revealed that Hampton Creek is "seizing market share" and the losses are causing Unilever
"irreparable harm." Unilever used standard of identity regulations in claiming that Hampton
Creek's Just Mayo products are falsely advertised because they don't contain eggs.[65]
The Washington Post[66] headline on the suit read "Big Food's Weird War Over The Meaning of
Mayonnaise." The Los Angeles Times[67] began its story with "Big Tobacco, Big Oil, now Big Mayo?"
A Wall Street Journal writer described that with "Giant corporation generates huge quantities of free
advertising and brand equity for tiny rival by suing it."[68]
In December 2014, Unilever dropped the claim.[69]

2015
In March 2015, Unilever confirmed it had reached an agreement to acquire REN Skincare, a British
niche skincare brand.[70] This was followed in May 2015 by the acquisition of Kate Somerville
Skincare LLC.[71]
In July 2015, the company separated its food spreads business,[72] including its Flora and I Can't
Believe It's Not Butter! brands, into a standalone entity named Unilever Baking, Cooking and
Spreading.[73] The separation was first announced in December 2014 and was made in response to
declining worldwide sales in that product category.[74]
In October 2015, Unilever agreed to acquire the Italian premium ice cream maker GROM for an
undisclosed amount.[75]

2016
In July 2016, Unilever bought the US start-up Dollar Shave Club for a reported $1b (£764m) in order
to compete in the male grooming market.[76] On 16 August 2016, Unilever acquired Blueair, a supplier
of mobile indoor air purification technologies.[77] In September 2016, Unilever acquired Seventh
Generation Inc. for $700 million.[78] On 16 December 2016, Unilever acquired Living Proof Inc, a hair
care products business.[79]
On 17 February 2017, significantly smaller Kraft Heinz made a $143 billion bid for Unilever.[80][81] The
deal was declined by Unilever.[82] On 20 April 2017, Unilever acquired Sir Kensington’s, a New York-
based condiment maker.[83] On 15 May 2017, the company acquired the personal care and home
care brands of Quala, a Latin American consumer goods company.[84] In June, the company acquired
Hourglass, a colour cosmetics brand.[85] In July, the company then announced that it had acquired
the organic herbal tea business, Pukka Herbs.[86]
In September 2017 Unilever acquired Weis, an Australian ice cream business.[87] On 7 September it
acquired Pukka Herbs, Bristol-based organic herbal tea and supplement company.[88] Later that
month Unilever acquired Remgro’s interest in Unilever South Africa in exchange for the Unilever
South Africa spreads business plus cash consideration.[89] Even later that month, Unilever agreed to
acquire Carver Korea, with 2.7billion USD,a skincare business brand of AHC in North Asia.[90]
In October, Unilever acquired Brazilian natural and organic food business Mãe Terra.[91] In November
2017, Unilever announced an agreement to acquire the Tazo speciality tea brand
from Starbucks.[92] Later in November 2017, the company acquired Sundial Brands, a skincare
company.[93] In December 2017, Unilever acquired Schmidt's Naturals, a US natural deodorant and
soap company.[94]
In March 2018, the company announced that its headquarters will be moved completely to
Rotterdam, ending its dual Anglo-Dutch structure.[95] A shareholder vote took place in October 2018
to decide for the listing of a new Unilever Dutch entity, which would have seen Unilever dropping out
of the FTSE 100 Index.[96] This was cancelled on 5 October 2018.
On October 1, 2018, they closed an acquisition[97] of a 75% stake in the Italian personal-care
business Equilibra.[98]
In 2018, UK recruitment website Indeed, named Unilever as the UK's ninth best private sector
employer[99] based on millions of employee ratings and reviews.[100]

Upfield[
In December 2017, Unilever sold its margarine and spreads division to investment firm KKR for
€6.8bn.[101][102] The sale was completed in July 2018, and the new company was
named Upfield.[103] Upfield's notable brands include Flora, Stork, I Can't Believe It's Not
Butter, Rama, Country Crock, Becel, and Blue Band.[104]