Unilever (LSE: ULVR, NYSE: UL, AEX: UNA) is a publicly listed company headquartered in London, United Kingdom that owns 54 consumer brands across 5 categories, and has 6 recorded transactions.[1]
Unilever is a British consumer goods company formed in 1929 by the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie and British soap maker Lever Brothers. It reports through four business groups: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care and Foods. Its ice cream business was demerged as The Magnum Ice Cream Company in December 2025.
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Full-screen interactive tree → · Download as infographic
Unilever bought Alberto Culver for $37.50 a share in cash, adding TRESemmé, VO5, Simple, St. Ives and Nexxus to its hair and skin portfolio. Regulators required Unilever to divest the Alberto VO5 and Rave brands in the United States.
Unilever acquired Bestfoods, the American food group behind Knorr and Hellmann's, in what was then the largest cash acquisition in the food industry. The European Commission cleared the deal in Phase I subject to divestiture commitments.
Unilever's subsidiary Conopco acquired Ben & Jerry's Homemade in a two-step transaction: a cash tender offer at $43.60 per share through Vermont All Natural Expansion Company, followed by a back-end merger. The merger agreement created an independent board with a continuing social mission mandate.
Unilever acquired the French condiments group Amora-Maille, adding mustard and sauce brands in France. The European Commission cleared the transaction subject to commitments.
Unilever separated its ice cream business as The Magnum Ice Cream Company, whose shares were admitted to trading on Euronext Amsterdam, the London Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange on 8 December 2025. Unilever shareholders received shares in the new company as a demerger dividend, and Unilever retained a 19.9% stake at admission.
Unilever sold its spreads business to KKR, which established it as a standalone company named Upfield. Unilever had been trying to exit margarine for years as consumption declined, and the sale followed its rejection of a takeover approach from Kraft Heinz that had prompted a strategic review.
| Case | Regulator | Decision | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| M.1990 | european commission | cleared with remedies | 28 September 2000 |
| M.1802 | european commission | cleared with remedies | 8 March 2000 |
No tagged news items yet. Headlines are added nightly from public feeds; only titles and links are stored.
Headlines link to the original publisher. Brandtree does not reproduce article text.
Unilever owns 54 consumer brands tracked here, including Persil, Bango, Marmite, Rexona, Lifebuoy and Horlicks.
Yes. Unilever is headquartered in London, United Kingdom and was founded in 1929.
Unilever is a publicly listed company owned by its shareholders; it trades as ULVR on the LSE, UL on the NYSE and UNA on the AEX.
The most recent completed acquisition recorded here is TRESemmé, VO5, Simple, St. Ives and Nexxus on 10 May 2011.
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
Report a correction Opens a pre-filled GitHub issue. See our corrections policy.