REG - Unilever PLC - Unilever to sell its Tea business ekaterra

UnileverAnnouncement

18/11/2021 16:20

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RNS Number : 8808S  Unilever PLC  18 November 2021

Unilever to sell its Tea business, ekaterra, to CVC Capital Partners Fund VIII
for €4.5 bn

 

 

London, 18 November 2021 - Unilever today announced that it has entered into
an agreement to sell its global Tea business, ekaterra, to CVC Capital
Partners Fund VIII for €4.5 billion on a cash-free, debt-free basis.

 

ekaterra is the world's leading Tea business, with a portfolio of 34 brands
including Lipton, PG tips, Pukka, T2 and TAZO®. The business generated
revenues of around €2 billion in 2020.

 

Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever said: "The evolution of our portfolio into higher
growth spaces is an important part of our growth strategy for Unilever. Our
decision to sell ekaterra demonstrates further progress in delivering against
our plans.

 

"We are proud of the place that our Tea business has in our company's history.
We look forward to seeing ekaterra, with its strong brands and global
footprint, prosper under CVC's ownership.  I would like to thank our Tea
colleagues around the world for their passion and commitment to our Tea
business and wish them well for the future."

 

Pev Hooper, a Managing Partner at CVC Capital Partners said: "ekaterra is a
great business, built on strong foundations of leading brands and a
purpose-driven approach to its products, people and communities.  ekaterra is
well positioned in an attractive market to accelerate its future growth, and
to lead the category's sustainable development. We look forward to working
with the team to realise ekaterra's full potential."

 

John Davison, CEO of ekaterra, said: "ekaterra is a strong business with
positive momentum and has an exciting future ahead under the new ownership of
CVC. We look forward to the next stage of our journey as the world's leading
Tea business."

 

Completion of the transaction is subject to completion of works council
consultation processes and the receipt of certain regulatory approvals.
Completion is expected in the second half of 2022. The transaction perimeter
excludes Unilever's Tea business in India, Nepal and Indonesia as well as
Unilever's interests in the Pepsi Lipton ready-to-drink Tea joint ventures and
associated distribution businesses.

 

 

About ekaterra

ekaterra is the leading global Tea business, with world class purpose driven
brands including Lipton, PG tips, Pukka, T2 and TAZO®. With 11 production
factories in 4 continents and Tea estates in 3 countries, ekaterra is growing
a world of wellbeing through the regenerative power of plants.
https://ekaterratea.com/ (https://ekaterratea.com/)

 

 

About CVC Capital Partners

CVC is a leading private equity and investment advisory firm with a network of
25 offices throughout Europe, Asia and the US, with approximately US$125
billion of assets under management. Since its founding in 1981, CVC has
secured commitments in excess of US$165 billion from some of the world's
leading institutional investors across its private equity and credit
strategies. Funds managed or advised by CVC are invested in more than 100
companies worldwide, which have combined annual sales of over US$100 billion
and employ more than 450,000 people. For further information about CVC please
visit: http://cvc.com (http://cvc.com)

 

 

Unilever PLC

Unilever House

100 Victoria Embankment

London EC4Y 0DY

United Kingdom

 

Press-Office.London@Unilever.com
(file:///C:/Users/ellen-van.ginkel/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/CV0VHI8J/Press-Office.London@Unilever.com)

 

 

 

Jonathan Sibun

+44 777 999 9683

jsibun@tulchangroup.com (mailto:jsibun@tulchangroup.com)

 

Guy Bates

+44 781 293 5831

gbates@tulchangroup.com (mailto:gbates@tulchangroup.com)

 

Ellen van Ginkel

+31 623915635

ellen-van.ginkel@unilever.com (mailto:ellen-van.ginkel@unilever.com)

 

 

 

Safe Harbour

 

This announcement may contain forward-looking statements, including
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Because these forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties,
there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ
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Annual Report on Form 20-F 2020 and the Unilever Annual Report and Accounts
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