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.
