Unilever completes acquisition of Sara Lee’s body care business

Anglo-Dutch giant Unilever completed its acquisition of Sara Lee’s global Body Care and European Detergents businesses for €1.21bn.

The acquisition was given the all clear last month by the European Commission providing the sale of the Sanex brand, and was completed yesterday.

"The divestiture of our Body Care and European Detergents businesses further enables us to concentrate our efforts in key areas where we have a strong competitive position and can generate significant shareholder value," said Marcel Smits, interim CEO of Sara Lee.

This transaction is a part of Sara Lee's ongoing process of divesting its Household and Body Care businesses.

In addition to today's transaction, the company has announced and closed transactions for its air care business to P&G for €320m and its stake in the Indian insecticides joint venture Godrej Sara Lee, which was sold to Godrej for €185m.