Unilever, the British-Dutch food and cosmetics multinational, said today that it would buy US hair care group Alberto Culver for $3.7 billion.
At the close of trading on the New York stock exchange on Friday, Alberto Culver, which owns the hair care brand Alberto VO5, was valued at $3.1 billion. Unilever said that the takeover was subject to approval from competition authorities and from shareholders in Alberto Culver.
Alberto Culver is based in Illinois, and is partly owned by the family of founder Leonard Lavin. The firm, which has roots going back more than 50 years, had sales of $1.6 billion in the year to June 30.
The chief executive of Unilever, Paul Polman, said that the Alberto Culver range of brands 'will complement Unilever's existing portfolio'.
The group said that the acquisition 'makes Unilever the world's leading company in hair conditioning, the second-largest in shampoo and the third-largest in styling, and significantly enhances its hair care presence in the US, Canada, Britain, Mexico and Australasia, all of which will be significant hair care markets for years to come.'
