Unilever to acquire Sara Lee personal care business for $1.88 billion

Consumer products giant Unilever today said that it has made a binding offer to acquire the personal care business of the Sara Lee Corporation for $1.88 billion in cash to expand its portfolio in Western Europe and Asia.

The UK and the Netherlands listed company, which has brands like Dove, Vaseline, Axe and Comfort in its portfolio will be adding American consumer company, Sara Lee's skin cleansing and deodorant brands like Sanex, Radox and Duschdas.

With group 2008 revenue of nearly $13 billion, Illinois-based Sara Lee, generated annual sales of approximately $1.0 billion and accounted for approximately 55 per cent of the adjusted operating segment income for the International Household and Body Care business.

''The divestiture of body care and European detergents would advance our strategy to concentrate on our core food and beverage businesses where we enjoy a strong competitive position and where we can generate superior shareholder returns,'' said Brenda Barnes, chairman and chief executive officer, Sara Lee.

''We intend to use proceeds from the divestiture to invest for growth in our core businesses and to repurchase stock,'' she added.

Sara Lee said that its board has authorised a $1 billion share repurchase program and expects the deal to be completed next year.