Unilever - M&A Summary and Business Overview

Consumer ProductsCompany

Unilever M&A Summary

Unilever has acquired 49 companies, including 10 in the last 5 years. A total of 11 acquisitions came from private equity firms. It has also divested 23 assets.

Unilever’s largest acquisition to date was in 2000, when it acquired Best Foods for $24.3B. It’s largest disclosed sale occurred in 2017, when it sold Upfield Europe BV to KKR for $7.7B. Unilever has acquired in 10 different US states, and 18 countries. The Company’s most targeted sectors include consumer products (65%) and food (27%).

Unilever Business Overview

Where is Unilever headquartered?

Unilever is headquartered in London, United Kingdom.

What is Unilever’s revenue?

Unilever disclosed revenue of 50,724M EUR for 2020 and 51,980M EUR for 2019.

How many employees does Unilever have?

Unilever has 148,949 employees.

What sector is Unilever in?

Unilever is a consumer products company.

When was Unilever founded?

Unilever was founded in 1894.

M&A Summary

  • M&A Total Activity68
    • M&A Buy Activity45
    • M&A Sell Activity23
  • Total Sectors Invested 5
  • Total Countries Invested 18
  • M&A Buy/Sell Connections 36
  • M&A Advisors 4

Unilever

Unilever PLC

Unilever House 100 Victoria Embankment,
London, EC4Y 0DY
United Kingdom,
+44 20 7822 5252
www.unilever.com

Unilever is a multinational consumer goods company. Its products include food, beverages, cleaning goods and personal care products. Unilever was founded in 1894 and is based in London, United Kingdom.


M&A Summary

Buy vs Sell

Year ≤ '19 '20 '21 '22 '23 '24 T
Buy (0.6/yr) # 42 2 1 - - - 45
vol $38.8B $38.8B
Sell (0.4/yr) # 21 - 1 - 1 - 23
vol $21.7B $5.1B $26.8B
  68

Most Recent M&A

Company Date Value Type
Elida Beauty 2023-12-18 - Divestiture
, United States
Lipton Teas and Infusions 2021-11-18 5.1B EUR Divestiture
Rotterdam, Netherlands · www.liptonteas.com
Paula's Choice LLC 2021-06-14 - Add-on Acquisition
Kent, Washington · www.paulaschoice.com
SmartyPants, Inc. 2020-11-25 - Add-on Acquisition
Marina Del Rey, California · www.smartypantsvitamins.com
Liquid I.V. 2020-09-01 - Add-on Acquisition
El Segundo, California · www.liquid-iv.com
Astrix S.A. 2019-08-30 - Add-on Acquisition
Cochabamba, Bolivia · www.olahogar.com
Tatcha LLC 2019-06-10 - Add-on Acquisition
San Francisco, California · www.tatcha.com
OLLY, PBC 2019-04-18 - Add-on Acquisition
San Francisco, California · www.olly.com
Nature Delivered Ltd. 2019-02-05 - Add-on Acquisition
Richmond, United Kingdom · www.graze.com
The Vegetarian Butcher 2018-12-19 - Add-on Acquisition
Utrecht, Netherlands · www.thevegetarianbutcher.com
View All >>

Business Unit M&A

Company Acquired Add-On/Sale Date #
Unilever United States, Inc.    - Suave 2023-02-14 3
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey · www.unileverusa.com Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey · www.suave.com
Seventh Generation, Inc. 2016-09-19 Move Collective LLC (bobble) 2017-07-26 1
Burlington, Vermont · www.seventhgeneration.com New York, New York · www.waterbobble.com
Alberto-Culver Co. 2010-09-27 Alberto-Culver Specialty Brands 2011-12-01 1
Melrose Park, Illinois · www.alberto.com , United States
Unilever United States, Inc.    - Unilever's Culver Specialty Brands 2011-10-28 2
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey · www.unileverusa.com , United States
Unilever United States, Inc.    - Country Crock Chilled Side Dish Line 2010-01-18 1
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey · www.unileverusa.com Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

M&A by Sector

Sector Buy # Value Sell # Value
Consumer Products 29 (64%) 13.8B (36%) 8 (35%) 2.7B (10%)
Food 12 (27%) 24.6B (63%) 10 (43%) 10.8B (40%)
Beverages 2 (4%) 384M (1%) 2 (9%) 5.6B (21%)
Machinery 1 (2%) - - -
Restaurants 1 (2%) - - -
Chemicals - - 1 (4%) 7.5B (28%)
Life Science - - 1 (4%) 131M (< 1%)
Medical Products - - 1 (4%) -
Total 45 $38.8B 23 $26.8B

By Geo

State/Country Buy Value Sell Value
United States 24 35.7B 5 2.2B
  California 9 1.0B - -
  New York 3 - 1 458M
  New Jersey 2 26.6B 1 -
  Vermont 2 326M - -
  Oregon 2 384M - -
  Illinois 2 7.4B - -
  Texas 1 - 1 1.5B
  Washington 1 - - -
  Ohio 1 - - -
  Massachusetts 1 - - -
United Kingdom 3 - 5 2.0B
Netherlands 1 - 5 21.6B
Australia 2 - 1 -
Brazil 1 - 2 868M
Czech Republic 1 - 1 -
Italy 2 - - -
Turkey - - 2 -
Bolivia 1 - - -
China 1 - - -
Colombia 1 215M - -
Denmark 1 - - -
Finland 1 - - -
Germany - - 1 -
Greece 1 - - -
Honduras 1 314M - -
Mexico 1 - - -
Philippines - - 1 48M
Russia 1 - - -
South Korea 1 2.6B - -
Sweden 1 - - -
Domestic 3 (7%) - 5 (22%) 2.0B (8%)
Cross-border 42 (93%) 38.8B (100%) 18 (78%) 24.7B (92%)
Total 45 $38.8B 23 $26.8B

Top M&A Advisors

Financial Deals
J.P. Morgan Securities
1
Stamford Partners LLP
1
Legal Deals
Cravath, Swaine & Moore
1
Baker & McKenzie
1

Deal Values

buy # Total
> $1B 6 $37.6B
$100M to $1B 4 $1.2B
TOTAL $38.8B
Largest Best Foods, Inc.
$24.3B (2000-06-06)
sell # Total
> $1B 5 $23.7B
$100M to $1B 7 $3.1B
< $100M 1 $48M
TOTAL $26.8B
Largest Upfield Europe BV
$7.7B (2017-12-15)

M&A Connections

Deals
Acquired from
Investor(s)
16%
7 (16%)
Strategic(s)
16%
7 (16%)
Divested to
Investor(s)
30%
7 (30%)
Strategic(s)
70%
16 (70%)

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