LONDON & ROTTERDAM, Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Unilever announced today that it has reached an agreement to sell the Alberto VO5 brand in the United States and Puerto Rico from the Alberto Culver portfolio and the Rave brand globally from the Unilever portfolio to private equity firm Brynwood Partners VI L.P. The deal is subject to approval by the US Department of Justice (DOJ). It is expected to be completed by the end of August. Terms were not disclosed.
The divestiture is required by the US DOJ in conjunction with Unilever’s $3.7 billion acquisition of the Alberto Culver Company, which was completed on May 10, 2011.
The Alberto VO5 brand in the US and Puerto Rico includes shampoos, conditioners and hair-styling products, and the Rave brand consists of aerosol and non-aerosol hairsprays. Outside the United States and Puerto Rico, the Alberto VO5 brand will remain in Unilever’s portfolio.
The Alberto Culver acquisition included brands such as TRESemmé, Nexxus, Motions, St. Ives and Simple, which complement Unilever’s portfolio of iconic brands such as Dove, Clear, Suave, TIGI (Bed Head, Catwalk and SFactor) and Sunsilk in hair care and Pond’s and Vaseline in skin.
About Unilever
Unilever works to create a better future every day. We help people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others. Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods with strong operations in more than 100 countries and sales in 180. Consumers buy 170 billion Unilever packs around the world every year, and our products are used over two billion times a day.
Our portfolio includes some of the world’s best known and most loved brands including twelve €1 billion brands, and global leadership in many categories in which we operate. The portfolio features iconic brands such as: Knorr, Hellmann’s, Lipton, Dove, Vaseline, TRESemmé, Nexxus, St. Ives and Simple.
We have around 167,000 employees, and generated annual sales of €44.3 billion in 2010. For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit www.unilever.com.
In 2010, we launched the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan aiming to halve our overall environmental footprint. Unilever is Food Industry Leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes for the 12th year running. We are included in the FTSE4Good Index Series and attained a top environmental score of 5, leading to inclusion in the FTSE4Good Environmental Leaders Europe 40 Index. We are also ranked 7th in the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, a list compiled by Corporate Knights Magazine. We achieved Platinum Plus standard in the UK’s Business in the Community Corporate Responsibility Index 2009, and were named Company of the Year in 2010.
About Brynwood Partners
Founded in 1984, Brynwood Partners is an operationally-focused private equity fund that makes control investments in lower middle market companies. Brynwood Partners targets companies operating in the following sectors: (a) consumer products, (b) light manufacturing with low capital intensity, and (c) businesses services.
Brynwood Partners is currently managing over $500 million of private equity capital for its limited partners who include U.S. and international pension funds, fund-of-funds, endowments, high net worth family investment offices and financial institutions. For more information on Brynwood Partners, please visit www.brynwoodpartners.com.
Safe Harbour
This announcement may contain forward-looking statements, including ‘forward-looking statements’ within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as ‘expects’, ‘anticipates’, ‘intends’, ‘believes’ or the negative of these terms and other similar expressions of future performance or results, and their negatives, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon current expectations and assumptions regarding anticipated developments and other factors affecting the Group. They are not historical facts, nor are they guarantees of future performance. Because these forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, including, among others, competitive pricing and activities, economic slowdown, industry consolidation, access to credit markets, recruitment levels, reputational risks, commodity prices, continued availability of raw materials, prioritisation of projects, consumption levels, costs, the ability to maintain and manage key customer relationships and supply chain sources, consumer demands, currency values, interest rates, the ability to integrate acquisitions and complete planned divestitures, the ability to complete planned restructuring activities, physical risks, environmental risks, the ability to manage regulatory, tax and legal matters and resolve pending matters within current estimates, legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments, political, economic and social conditions in the geographic markets where the Group operates and new or changed priorities of the Boards. Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting the Group are described in the Group’s filings with the London Stock Exchange, Euronext Amsterdam and the US Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Group’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2010. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this document. Except as required by any applicable law or regulation, the Group expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Group’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.