Unilever, Bestfoods shareholders OK merger; new management named

Unilever shareholders on Monday voted in favor of the acquisition of Bestfoods at separate meetings in London and Rotterdam. Bestfoods' shareholders also voted Monday in favor of the buyout. Unilever expects to complete the takeover Wednesday. Unilever is paying $73 a share for Bestfoods and expects to take on $3.1 billion in Bestfoods debt.

Last week Unilever received conditional approval for the acquisition from the European Commission, executive arm of the European Union.

Chairmen Niall FitzGerald and Antony Burgmans told the Unilever PLC and NV shareholders that the acquisition represented an outstanding strategic fit, strengthening Unilever's Foods business and enhancing its Path to Growth strategy.

``The acquisition of Bestfoods will enable us to create the world's best foods company, delivering strong top-line growth and enhancing operating margins by realizing the potential for significant synergy,'' the Chairmen said.

In addition, Unilever announced the appointment of seven Bestfoods executives to its new Foods Division, but the chief executive was not among them.

Unilever said Dick Shoemate, chairman and CEO of Bestfoods, had elected not to continue a full-time executive role, but will be a Unilever advisory director.

Bestfood's Anthony Simpson becomes president, Marketing in the division; Diego Bevilacqua president, Foodservice; Neil Beckerman president, Foods North America; Oscar Imbellone executive vice president, Foods Latin America; Richard Oppenheim executive vice president Foods, Europe; and Jim Liberty becomes senior vice president, Human Resources.

"We are delighted that so many excellent Bestfoods managers have decided to join their Unilever colleagues in what we are confident will be an outstanding leadership team," said FitzGerald.

The Bestfoods appointments become effective January 1, 2001.

Unilever is one of the world's largest consumer products companies with sales in excess of $45 billion. It produces and markets a wide range of foods, home and personal care products. Unilever operates in 88 countries around the globe and employs 255,000 people. In the United States, Unilever sales exceeded $8 billion in 1999. It employs 22,000 people and has 72 offices and manufacturing sites in 24 states.

Edited by Pam Ahlberg