Unilever to acquire Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc. for 1.27 time revenue

The Deal: During a buying spree, Unilever agreed to acquire both Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., maker of premium ice cream, and the privately held Slim-Fast Foods Co., maker of weight-loss products. Unilever bought Ben & Jerry's for $43.60 a share, above another offer of $38 per share from a buyout group of socially concerned investors in which Unilever would have taken a 28 percent stake. Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Inc. also made a bid for Ben & Jerry's, with an offer ranging from $35 to $38 per share. Ben & Jerry's shares rose $8.125, or 23.3 percent, to $43.1625, after the news of the acquisition was announced. While these two purchases might seem to be a curious mix, Unilever has found that there are two groups of shoppers, one that can't buy enough ice cream, candy and cookies, and another group who prefers to purchase "better for you" products such as energy bars and vegetable drinks. By acquiring these two companies, Unilever is hoping to appeal to both groups of consumers.

Discussion: Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc. is a top maker of super-premium ice cream, matching rival Diageo's Haagen-Dazs scoop for scoop. The quirky company sells ice cream and ice-cream novelties, frozen yogurt and sorbet with names like Phish Food and Cherry Garcia. It also franchises or owns about 170 Ben & Jerry's "scoop shops." Ben & Jerry's is known for social activism and donates nearly 8 percent of pretax profits to philanthropic causes. The company's products are sold in the U.S., Canada, Japan, and in parts of Europe. Co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield control nearly 45 percent of the company's voting power.