Unilever has announced that it is acquiring Remgro's share in Unilever South Africa, in exchange for the company's South African spreads business, as well as cash consideration.
South African investment company Remgro currently holds 25.75% of Unilever's South African business, which is being exchanged for the company's spreads unit as well as ZAR 4.9 billion, representing a total transaction value of ZAR 11.9 billion.
“Unilever South Africa is a great business, well positioned for sustainable long-term growth," said Luc-Olivier Marquet, executive vice president of Unilever SA.
"By giving us full ownership of the business, this transaction means we are better placed to accelerate that growth while the spreads business moves on to Remgro where it augments their current portfolio and can be sure of a great future."
Spreads Business
Jannie Durand, CEO of Remgro said that this transaction is "a vote of confidence in the future of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland."
"We believe the Unilever Spreads business in these Southern Africa countries is an attractive business, with leading brands which include Rama, Stork, Flora and Rondo with good growth prospects.”
In April, Unilever confirmed its intention to either sell or remerge its spreads business globally, as part of its portfolio development plan.
Several groups have been linked to an acquisition of the business, including state-backed Singaporean fund GIC, Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners, and Clayton Dubilier & Rice and Bain Capital.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
