Sometimes today's headlines sound vaguely familiar, as is the case with Friday's news that Unilever is looking to divest assets. Interestingly, the news of a planned sale of its laundry detergent brands All and Wisk coincide with a similar story seven years earlier when Unilever was attempting to complete the $24.3 billion acquisition of Bestfoods.
While the headlines might sound the same, the impetus for the divestitures are quite different, but have a tenuous link. Today's sale is actually indirectly related to the Bestfood's acquisition, which solidified Unilever as a food business forcing its longstanding detergents business to the sidelines. However, as Advertising Age points out, Unilever's detergents have played second place to rival Procter & Gamble for at least 20 years.
Top candidates to buy the business are Colgate Palmolive Co., Church & Dwight Co., Henkel KGaA and buyout firm Vestar Capital Partners, owner of private-label manufacturer Huish Detergents Inc. With the cedeing of the laundy business to P&G, maybe the American conglomerate will be willing to talk with the Dutch giant about a deal for some of P&G's noncore food businesses, which also happen to be on the block. —Matthew Wurtzel
See Unilever divestiture story from TheDeal.com
See related story from Advertising Age
See Bestfoods story from TheDeal.com archives
Tags: Unilever, corporate restructuring
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