Unilever to sell Dollar Shave Club

Unilever will maintain a 35% minority ownership stake as part of the agreement.

Unilever, one of the world’s leading suppliers of consumer goods, has revealed its intention to divest Dollar Shave Club to the private equity firm Nexus Capital Management. Unilever will maintain a 35% minority ownership stake as part of the agreement. The completion of the transaction is anticipated within the current year and is contingent upon standard closing conditions.

The company also reported a 3.8% drop in revenue in the third quarter, slightly better than the consensus forecast. Its turnover in July-September totaled 15.2 billion euros, down from 15.8 billion euros a year earlier.

Price growth was 5.8% and beat the consensus forecast of 5.1%. Volumes fell 0.6%, experts had forecast a 0.1% increase. Unilever recorded lower sales in all product categories, it said. Revenue from health and beauty products fell by 4.9%, personal care products by 2.2%, household products by 4.1%, food by 2.4%, and the separate ice cream segment by 6.5%.

Unilever also unveiled a program to drive business growth and unlock its potential. As part of it, the company will focus on 30 core brands, which account for more than 70% of total revenue, and will be more selective in acquisitions.
Unilever shares were down 2.5 percent in trading in London and Amsterdam on Thursday.