The maker of Dove soap, Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Lipton tea was driven to conduct a strategic review of its business earlier this year after a short-lived courtship by Kraft Heinz. In a textbook move to please investors, Unilever said it would shell out 5 billion euros ($5.3 billion) on share buybacks this year and raise its dividend by 12%. Unilever expects these initiatives, in addition to measures already announced, to result in annual cost savings of 4 billion to 6 billion euros. Kraft Heinz, which is backed by billionaires Warren Buffett and Jorge Paulo Lemann, had sought to create a food and consumer products behemoth by acquiring Unilever. However, two days after the talks became public, Kraft Heinz acknowledged that Unilever was not interested and withdrew its bid.

Source: Forbes April 06, 2017 13:46 UTC