With a market capitalization of ₹6,34,695.09 Cr, Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (HUL) is a blue-chip corporation that operates in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry. With a nearly 90-year history in India, Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), the country’s largest fast-moving consumer goods company, announced plans to acquire 100% in Zywie Ventures (Oziva) in two tranches with 51.00% of the shareholdings to be acquired in the first purchase and the remaining 49.00% to be acquired in the second tranche.
The Board of Directors of HUL has said today in a stock exchange filing that “Pursuant to Regulation 30 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements), Regulations 2015, it is hereby informed that Hindustan Unilever Limited (the “Company”) has entered into definitive documents (the “Transaction Documents”), to acquire 100% of the shareholding of Zywie Ventures Private Limited, a private limited company incorporated in India (and also to indirectly and proportionately acquire Zenherb Labs Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Zywie Ventures Private Limited) through subscription of shares of Zywie Ventures Private Limited and purchase of shares from its existing shareholders in 2 tranches, wherein 51.00% of the shareholding will be acquired in the first tranche and the balance 49.00% shareholding shall be acquired in the second tranche, which shall take place at the expiry of 3 years from the date of completion of the first tranche (unless otherwise agreed between the Company and Zywie Ventures Private Limited in accordance with the terms of the definitive documents) (the “Transaction”).”
OZiva, a pioneering plant-based and clean-label consumer wellness brand that was established in 2016, focuses on areas with significant demand for lifestyle protein, hair and beauty supplements, and women’s health. Through a combination of main infusion and secondary buyouts, HUL will acquire a 51% equity stake. At the conclusion of 36 months, the remaining 49% will be acquired at the end of 36 months based on pre-agreed valuation criteria, said HUL. All business operations will continue to be handled by the present OZiva team, which is currently comprised of Ms. Aarti Gill and Mr. Mihir Gadani. HUL will have a representative on the Board and will offer the capabilities and assistance required to scale up.
Sanjiv Mehta, CEO and Managing Director, HUL said: “We are delighted to welcome OZiva and Wellbeing Nutrition to the HUL family and our portfolio of purpose-led brands. These strategic investments give us an entry into the fast-growing Health & Wellbeing category. They align strongly with our mission to improve the health and wellbeing of consumers and empower people to take charge of their health through solutions that they can trust. I strongly believe that HUL is well-positioned to support further scale-up of these businesses through our R&D, Market Development, Distribution capabilities and Unilever’s global Health & Wellbeing expertise.”
Ritesh Tiwari, CFO HUL said: “HUL has a successful track record of building categories through market development. We are excited to work with the founders of OZiva and Wellbeing Nutrition to grow the businesses further by leveraging our complementary expertise and capabilities.”
Aarti Gill & Mihir Gadani, Founders of OZiva said: “We are glad to partner with HUL to achieve our vision of empowering people to live better and healthier with OZiva. Over the last few years, we have created an innovative portfolio that has helped millions of consumers live a better life. As the next step in this journey, with OZiva’s focus on innovation in the space of health & wellbeing and HUL’s strong capabilities in category development and distribution, we believe we can together create a stronger purpose led brand that brings us closer to our vision and touch more lives around the world.”
The shares of Hindustan Unilever Ltd closed today at ₹2,700.00 apiece, down by 0.27% from the previous close of ₹2,707.35. On a YTD basis, the stock has gained 14.34% so far in 2022.