Unilever Nigeria Reiterates Plan To End Vaseline, OMO, Other Home Care, Skin Business

Unilever Nigeria has disclosed that the company intends to sell off its Home Care and Skin Cleansing business, almost a year after selling its tea operation.

The company’s Home Care and Skin Cleansing segments include OMO, Vaseline, Lux, Dove, Lifebuoy, and Rexona products amongst many others. 

Unilever has been shrinking its business over a year, with its parent company selling the tea business, ekaterra, at the worth of €4.5 billion, to the CVC Capital Partners Fund VIII. 

In Nigeria, Unilever Tea MSO Nigeria Limited acquired the tea segment in October 2021 and both companies entered into a Transitional Service Agreement for 15 months that earned Unilever Nigeria N123.68 million. 

Unilever Nigeria has now set its sight on the Home Care and Skin Cleansing business, but it didn’t disclose if buyers are already in line. 

The firm said it took the decision to sell the Home Care and Skin Cleansing business to accelerate growth and sustain profitability. 

In a statement sent to the capital market, Unilever informed shareholders that: “The Company will make changes to its business model in order to accelerate growth and sustain profitability while enhancing its ability to meet consumer needs. The 100-year-old consumer goods company will repurpose its portfolio while putting in place measures to make the business more efficient and future fit.

“These changes will reposition the Company to better meet the needs of consumers, shareholders, and employees. This will involve: Repurposing the portfolio by exiting the Home Care and Skin Cleansing categories to concentrate on higher growth opportunities. 

“Strengthening business operations with measures to digitize and simplify processes; and Focusing more on business continuity measures that reduce exposure to devaluation and currency liquidity in our business model. 

“The exit of these two categories over 2023 will boost the vision to make Unilever Nigeria great, building on the impressive progress made in other key aspects of the business, and is envisaged to result in overall improvement in profitability, growth and a more sustainable Unilever Nigeria plc. Business.”