Unilever

Unilever PLC is a British multinational that makes everyday consumer goods, with its headquarters in London, England. The business splits into four main divisions: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, and Nutrition. It runs research and development centres in China, India, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The company was created in 1930 when Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie merged with British soap maker Lever Brothers. The name "Unilever" blends elements from both original companies. Today, it produces baby food, beauty products, cleaning agents, healthcare and hygiene items, and toothpaste. Unilever is the world's largest soap manufacturer, and its products reach more than 190 countries.

During the 1930s, Unilever bought the United Africa Company. In the latter half of the 20th century, it moved beyond its original focus on oils and fats, expanding globally. Major acquisitions over the years include Lipton (1971), Brooke Bond (1984), Pond's (1987), Colman's (1995), Hellmann's (2000), Ben & Jerry's (2000), SlimFast (2000), Knorr (2000), Alberto-Culver (2010), Dollar Shave Club (2016), and Pukka Herbs (2017). In 1997, it sold its specialty chemicals business to Imperial Chemical Industries. Under CEO Paul Polman in the 2010s, the company shifted focus toward health and beauty brands, stepping away from slower-growing food lines. By selling off many global food businesses through the 2010s and 2020s, Unilever now concentrates on health and personal care products worldwide.

Unilever trades on the London Stock Exchange, with secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange, and is part of the FTSE 100 Index.

In the 1930s, the business grew into Africa and Latin America. The Nazi occupation of Europe during World War II kept Unilever from reinvesting capital there, so it bought new companies in the UK and US instead. In 1943, it acquired T. J. Lipton, a majority stake in Frosted Foods (which owned the Birds Eye brand in the UK), and Batchelors Peas. Pepsodent was bought in 1944. Unilever Indonesia began in December 1933 as Lever Zeepfabrieken N.V., with operations in West Java, East Java, and North Sumatra.

After 1945, Unilever's American subsidiaries—Lever Brothers and T.J. Lipton—lost ground, so the company adopted a hands-off management approach there. Sunsil launched in the UK in 1954, and Dove debuted in the US in 1957. Unilever took full control of Frosted Foods in 1957, renaming it Birds Eye. It bought the US-based Good Humor ice cream business in 1961. By the mid-1960s, laundry soap and edible fats still generated about half of Unilever's profits, but a stagnant market for yellow fats and rising competition from Procter & Gamble in detergents and soaps pushed the company to diversify. In 1971, it acquired British-based Lipton Ltd from Allied Suppliers. National Starch was bought for $487 million in 1978, then the largest foreign takeover of a US company.

By the late 1970s, acquisitions had given Unilever 30% of the Western European ice cream market. In 1982, management decided to shift from a sprawling conglomerate to a more focused fast-moving consumer goods company. In 1984, it bought Brooke Bond (maker of PG Tips tea) for £390 million in its first successful takeover. In 1986, it strengthened its skin care position by acquiring Ponds (formed from Chesebrough Manufacturing and Pond's Creams), which owned Ragú, Pond's, Aqua-Net, Cutex, and Vaseline, through a hostile takeover. In 1989, Unilever bought Calvin Klein Cosmetics, Fabergé, and Elizabeth Arden, though it sold Elizabeth Arden in 2000.

Unilever Ghana was created in July 1992 from the merger of UAC Ghana Limited and Lever Brothers Ghana Limited. In 1993, it bought Breyers from Kraft, making it the largest US ice cream maker, and also acquired the Isaly Klondike Company and Popsicle Industries. In 1996, it merged Elida Gibbs and Lever Brothers in the UK and bought Helene Curtis, gaining the Suave and Finesse hair-care brands and Degree deodorant. In 1997, it sold its specialty chemicals division—National Starch & Chemical, Quest, Unichema, and Crosfield—to Imperial Chemical Industries for £4.9 billion. A sustainable agriculture programme was launched in 1998. In 2000, Unilever bought Maille, Ben & Jerry's, and SlimFast for £1.63 billion, and Bestfoods for £13.4 billion, adding brands like Knorr, Marmite, Bovril, and Hellmann's.