Unilever Plans To Raise Stake In Indian Subsidiary

Unilever PLC said it plans to increase its stake in Hindustan Unilever from 52.48 percent to 75 percent. Unilever has offered to acquire up to 487,004,772 shares at a price of 600 Indian rupees per share, which represent 22.52 percent of the total outstanding shares of HUL. With a potential total value of about INR 292.2 billion or €4.1 billion, the offer means a premium of approximately 29.5 percent over the floor price mandated under India's regulation and a premium of 26 percent to HUL's average trading price for the previous month. For the financial year ending March 31, 2013, HUL reported sales of more than INR 270 billion or €3.8 billion and net profit of INR 38 billion or €0.5 billion.