Unilever to Add Skin-Care Brand From South Korea -- WSJ
September 26 2017 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Saabira Chaudhuri
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (September 26, 2017).
LONDON -- Unilever PLC has agreed to buy Carver Korea, a
Seoul-based maker of toners and moisturizers, for $2.7 billion, the
latest in a string of skin-care acquisitions as it pivots toward
higher-growth sectors.
Unilever is buying what it described as South Korea's
fastest-growing skin-care business from Bain Capital Private Equity
and Goldman Sachs, which acquired the company slightly over a year
ago. Carver sells age-management, skin-hydration and
skin-nourishment products under the brand AHC. It sells its
products in Korea, China and the U.S.
In recent years Unilever has upped its exposure to skin
products, buying four high-end skin-care brands in 2015 alone. Last
year it bought Dollar Shave Club, which gave it men's skin-care
brand Big Cloud and hairstyling brand Boogies.
Under Paul Polman, a former Procter & Gamble Co. executive
who became Unilever's chief executive in 2009, the company has
shifted away from food and toward higher-margin personal care. In
2016, personal care made up 40% of Unilever's revenue, up from 28%
in 2008.
The company has also been working to fend off an increasingly
sophisticated array of local competitors that market through
channels such as Instagram and YouTube and often sell directly to
customers over the web. Last year it embarked on a restructuring
aimed at making its local units more responsive to trends in their
markets and is employing its own social-media influencers while
also buying local brands.
Buying Carver will help Unilever gain ground in the Korean
beauty market, where hair and beauty trends often influence ones
further west. South Korea is the world's fourth largest market for
skin care, according to Unilever.
Carver, which started out in 1999 selling products to beauty
salons, reported sales of EUR321 million ($383.5 million) and
earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of
EUR137 million in 2016. It sells essences, toners, moisturizers,
masks, and sun protection.
Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at saabira.chaudhuri@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 26, 2017 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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