On Feb. 17, Kraft Heinz offered to acquire Unilever for $50 per share, which included $30.23 in cash and the remainder in stock for a total value of approximately $143 billion. Unilever quickly rejected the offer, calling it too low.
On Feb. 19, the two companies issued a joint statement that said, “Kraft Heinz has amicably agreed to withdraw its proposal for a combination of the two companies. Unilever and Kraft Heinz hold each other in high regard. Kraft Heinz has the utmost respect for the culture, strategy and leadership of Unilever.”
A combination of Kraft Heinz and Unilever would have created a company with sales of approximately $83 billion and a global footprint that extended throughout food and beverage and into the personal care categories. Unilever operates three principal divisions: The Americas, Europe and a combination of global clusters, Asia, AMET (Africa, Middle East and Turkey) and RUB (Russia, Ukraine and Belarus).
In 2016, 43 percent of sales were in developed markets and 57 percent were in emerging markets.
