Unilever

Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded in 1930 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever Brothers. The company's products include baby food, beauty products, cleaning agents, healthcare and hygiene products, and toothpaste. It is the largest producer of soap in the world, and its products are available in over 190 countries. The company is organised into four main business groups: Beauty & Wellbeing, Personal Care, Home Care, and Nutrition. It has research and development facilities in China, India, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the 1930s, Unilever acquired the United Africa Company. In the second half of the 20th century, the company increasingly diversified from being a maker of products made of oils and fats, and expanded its operations worldwide. It has made numerous corporate acquisitions, including Lipton (1971), Brooke Bond (1984), Pond's (1987), Colman's (1995), Hellmann's (2000), Ben & Jerry's (2000), SlimFast (2000), Knorr (2000), Alberto-Culver (2010), Dollar Shave Club (2016), and Pukka Herbs (2017). Unilever divested its speciality chemicals businesses to Imperial Chemical Industries in 1997. In the 2010s, under the leadership of Paul Polman, the company gradually shifted its focus towards health and beauty brands and away from food brands that showed slow growth. Having divested its various global foods businesses in the 2010s and 2020s, the company is now focused on health and personal care products globally. Unilever is listed on the London Stock Exchange with secondary listings on the Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.