Unilever announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire Murad, a leading clinical skincare brand. This follows the recent acquisitions of Dermalogica, Kate Somerville and REN, which jointly position Unilever as a key player in the personal care prestige segment.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150702005754/en/

Murad Environmental Shield(R) Family (Photo: Business Wire)

Founded in 1989 in Los Angeles, Murad is the first modern doctor brand, with a mission to provide proven, efficacious products. Howard Murad MD, a dermatologist, pharmacist, and UCLA professor, developed a unique recipe of antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, and hydrators to address virtually every skin care concern, from acne to anti-ageing. Murad has a significant presence in the US through professional salons and spas such as Massage Envy, and specialist retailers such as Sephora, Ulta and Nordstrom; as well as through direct sales. It also has a regional hub for Europe located in the UK, and the brand can be found in over 42 countries, in department stores, pharmacies, spas and salons.

Paul Polman, Unilever CEO, said: “We are delighted to welcome Murad to our portfolio of Prestige personal care brands. As an expert ‘Doctor brand’, Murad offers products in a differentiated clinical and holistic well-being segment. It has a loyal following that gives it excellent potential for expansion, and wonderfully complements the brands recently acquired. We look forward to working with Dr Murad and his team to continue to grow the brand.”

Dr Howard Murad added: “We’ve always looked for opportunities to reach more people with our message of Inclusive Health and to touch more lives with our targeted, high-performance products. With Unilever, we can broaden our reach and significantly grow our brand while remaining faithful to the founding principles of Murad. There is a very bright path ahead and I am excited to work with Unilever to share our products with the world—together we can inspire every person that the Murad brand touches to live life beautifully.”

Murad’s heritage and success is grounded on the principle that beauty and good health are vitally linked and best achieved through an Inclusive Health lifestyle. Murad products combine a unique recipe of high performance ingredients that deliver solutions for healthy, beautiful skin. The brand, which had a turnover of US$115m in 2014, will be incorporated into Unilever’s Prestige division, which is exclusively dedicated to select distribution and premium personal care brands.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals.

About Unilever:

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2 billion consumers a day. It has 172,000 employees and generated sales of €48.4 billion in 2014. Over half (57%) of the company’s footprint is in developing and emerging markets. Unilever has more than 400 brands found in homes around the world, including Persil, Dove, Knorr, Domestos, Hellmann’s, Lipton, Wall’s, PG Tips, Ben & Jerry’s, Marmite, Magnum and Lynx.

Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) commits to:

  • Decoupling growth from environmental impact.
  • Helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being.
  • Enhancing the livelihoods of millions of people by 2020.

Unilever was ranked number one in its sector in the 2014 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In the FTSE4Good Index, it achieved the highest environmental score of 5. It led the list of Global Corporate Sustainability Leaders in the 2015 GlobeScan/SustainAbility annual survey for the fifth year running, and in 2015 was ranked the most sustainable food and beverage company in Oxfam’s Behind the Brands Scorecard.

Unilever has been named in LinkedIn’s Top 3 most sought-after employers across all sectors.

For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit www.unilever.com. For more information on the USLP: www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/

Cautionary statement

This announcement may contain forward-looking statements, including ‘forward-looking statements’ within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as ‘will’, ‘aim’, ‘expects’, ‘anticipates’, ‘intends’, ‘looks’, ‘believes’, ‘vision’, or the negative of these terms and other similar expressions of future performance or results, and their negatives, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon current expectations and assumptions regarding anticipated developments and other factors affecting the Group. They are not historical facts, nor are they guarantees of future performance.

Because these forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Among other risks and uncertainties, the material or principal factors which cause actual results to differ materially are: Unilever’s global brands not meeting consumer preferences; Unilever’s ability to innovate and remain competitive; Unilever’s investment choices in its portfolio management; inability to find sustainable solutions to support long-term growth; customer relationships; the recruitment and retention of talented employees; disruptions in our supply chain; the cost of raw materials and commodities; the production of safe and high quality products; secure and reliable IT infrastructure; successful execution of acquisitions, divestitures and business transformation projects; economic and political risks and natural disasters; financial risks; failure to meet high and ethical standards; and managing regulatory, tax and legal matters. Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting the Group are described in the Group’s filings with the London Stock Exchange, Euronext Amsterdam and the US Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the Group’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2014 and the Annual Report and Accounts 2014. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement. Except as required by any applicable law or regulation, the Group expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Group’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

UnileverMedia Enquiries:Helen Dodd, +44 (0) 7920 254 650helen.dodd@unilever.comorTreeva Fenwick, +44 (0) 7917 271819Treeva.fenwick@unilever.com

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