In this Article of The Wall Street Journal on September 27, 2010, it is stated that Unilever wants to buy Alberto Culver Co., a company that makes hair products. They will pay "$35.50 cash", which is more than the price said prior to this one. The Alberto Culver Co. consists of products made by TRESemme, Nexxus, St. Ives, and Noxzema. This purchase is happening one year after Unilever purchased Sara Lee Corp for $1.72 billion in cash.
Unilever includes brands such as Dove, Degree, and Suave. Its sales are up 7.9% for these products and the total sales for the entire company are up 3.8% from last year.
The acquisition would put Unilever in competition with Procter and Gamble. This would also increase Unilever's presence in North America.
If this purchase does go through, the competition in the Consumer Product Goods Industry will increase. Unilever will probably become an even more prominent company in this industry and will then have more control.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704082104575516451048694186.html?mod=WSJ_Consumerproducts_leftHeadlines
This acquisition will benefit Unilever as well as the greater consumer population. Evidently, Unilever is already on an upturn with a total sales increase from last year of 3.8%. This acquisition will only further diversify the company's product line, hopefully increasing consumer demand. As for the consumer population, it will always benefit from more competition for the more competition and suppliers, the lower the prices.
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