Unilever 2015 Annual Report Download - page 36

400 mllon
The brands are a new growth platform and have
combned turnover of approachng 400 mllon
DEVELOPMENTS IN 2015
In prevous years Unlever dentfed
premumsng ts portfolo as a key drver
of growth In 2015 we took further decsve
acton to execute on that prorty wth the
acquston of several brands, most
notably n Personal are
We acqured four premum skn care
busnesses to create a Prestge busness
wthn Personal are wth annual turnover
approachng 400 mllon These deals are
accretve to growth, margns and earnngs
per share
The largest acquston, announced n
June 2015, s Dermalogca Wth a strong
nternatonal footprnt, t s the number
one salon skn care brand globally, rooted
n skn health treatments Murad,
announced n July, s the frst modern
‘doctor’ brand wth a msson to provde
proven, effcacous products Founded n
1989 by Howard Murad, a dermatologst,
pharmacst and ULA professor, t has a
product range to address a wde varety
of skn care concerns
Earler, n March 2015, Unlever also
announced the acquston of REN, whch
poneered a dstnctve hgh-performance
skn care product range now sold n
around 50 countres through specalty
stores and pharmaces In May we
announced the acquston of Kate
Somervlle Skncare, a nche derma-
cosmetc busness wth a celebrty
followng n Hollywood, whch has made
nroads from the US nto the fast-growng
Asan beauty market
All four are strong, dfferentated brands
n a large and growng market for prestge
skn care products, whch remans hghly
fragmented The brands wll be run as part
of the Prestge busness wthn Personal
are, to preserve the unque prestge
expertse, wth dedcated marketng and
customer development However, the
brands wll be able to leverage our
consumer nsght and research and
development resources
The acquston of the Prestge skn care
brands s a good example of how Unlever
uses merger and acquston actvty to help
reshape our portfolos towards more
attractve segments where we can most
effectvely apply our global scale and local
strengths We reman alert to opportuntes
that wll progress our strategc prortes
whle always observng robust fnancal
dscplnes n assessng these optons
Elsewhere, we acqured rom to
strengthen our ce cream portfolo n our
Refreshment category rom enoys a
strong poston n the premum gelato
market and has 60 stores n Italy and
around the world It also shares Unlever’s
commtment to sustanable sourcng of
raw materals In Foods, we created
Bakng, ookng and Spreads to ncrease
aglty and accelerate growth n Europe
and North Amerca
In lne wth our focus on Personal are,
Unlever was reclassfed from Foods to
Personal Products by the lobal Industry
lassfcaton Standard (IS) panel Ths
followed smlar reclassfcatons n 2014
applyng to the FTSE and Stoxx ndces
Durng 2015 we contnued our bond
ssuance programme to rase compettvely
prced debt captal through both the
European and US captal markets In
January 2015 we announced the prcng of
a 750 mllon bond at 05% due February
2022 In May we ssued 125 bllon n two
tranches due June 2018 and June 2023,
whle n July we prced a dual tranche
US$1 bllon bond splt equally between
a 21% fxed rate note due July 2020 and
a 31% note due July 2025
We also took the opportunty n 2015
to ncrease our equty stake n Unlever
Ngera from 500% to 585%
WE ARE
BUILDIN
A PREMIUM
PORTFOLIO
THROUH
AQUISITION
A PRESTIE BUSINESS
THE BRANDS WE AQUIRED WERE
DERMALOIA, KATE SOMERVILLE,
MURAD AND REN
We have created a new Prestge busness
wthn Personal are, through the acquston
of four brands, to execute the category’s
strategc prorty of buldng ts premum
product range
33Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2015 Strategic Report