Unilever Buys Alberto-Culver for $3.7 Billion

by Jordan Yerman | September 28, 2010 at 08:42 am

139 views | 0 Recommendations | 0 comments

Alberto-Culver; Beauty Product Company Acquired by Unilever

Unilever has bought Alberto-Culver for $3.7 billion. Alberto-Culver is a Chicago-based beauty product manufacturer: anyone growing up in the 1980s is familiar with Alberto VO5, for example. Alberto-Culver also makes TREsemme and St. Ives products, and had acquired the Noxzema brand.

Alberto-Culver was founded in 1955 by Bernice and Leonard Lavin, and currently employs 900 people.

Unilever owns over 400 brands, covering personal hygiene, home care and food products.

Soap, deodorant and moisturiser is a faster growing market than food, Unilever's other main business.

Alberto-Culver Jobs Uncertain

It's not clear what will happen to Alberto-Culver's current employees, but a message sent by executive management was not particularly encouraging:

In a letter from Carol Bernick and CEO Jim Marino to employees obtained by the Sun-Times, the executives said they "recognize how difficult and emotional a change like this will be."

The deal was brokered by Byron D. Trott, formerly of Goldman Sachs and advisor to Warren Buffett.