Unilever to Buy Sara Lee Personal Care Unit

LONDON (TheStreet) -- Consumer goods company Unilever(UL Quote) made a binding offer to buy Sara Lee's (SLE Quote) personal care business for 1.275 billion euros ($1.87 billion) in cash.

Unilever said the brands being acquired, such as Sanex, Radox and Duschdas, will help build on its leading position in skin cleansing and deodorant products. "They are a perfect complement to Unilever's existing portfolio of brands like Dove, Axe and Rexona," Unilever said in a statement.

The purchase also will build on Unilever's portfolio in Western Europe and Asia.

The Sara Lee brands generated annual sales of more than 750 million euros.

Sara Lee, in a separate press release, said it has "agreed to accept the binding offer upon satisfaction of certain conditions," including consultation with employee works councils in Europe.

It will use the proceeds from the sale to "invest for growth in our core businesses and to repurchase stock." Sara Lee said its board authorized a buyback program of an additional $1 billion.

Sara Lee said it also has received "significant interest" for the remainder of its household business and is continuing to pursue options for the operations, which include its air care, shoe care, insecticides and non-European cleaning brands.

The transaction is expected to close by 2010.

It was reported back in March that Sara Lee was examining the sale of its European household and personal-care business to focus on its core food and beverage business.

-- Reported by Joseph Woelfel in New York .

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