Unilever goes Wild for £230m refillable cosmetics producer
The FTSE-100 behemoth is close to announcing the purchase of a plastics-free
premium cosmetics brand founded by two entrepreneurs just six years ago, Sky
News learns.
Business and economics reporter @taaffems [http://twitter.com/@taaffems]
Monday 10 February 2025 13:46, UK
The FTSE-100 consumer goods giant Unilever is closing in on a £230m deal to snap
up Wild, a premium producer of refillable personal care products backed by the
founders of Innocent Drinks.
Sky News has learnt that Unilever has agreed the terms of a transaction to
acquire Wild from its founders and early-stage investors.
A deal could be announced within weeks, according to industry sources.
If confirmed, it would be one Unilever’s most significant acquisitions in the
personal care space for some years, and comes as chief executive Hein Schumacher
accelerates efforts to revamp its portfolio.
The group owns personal care brands such as Dove and Lynx – which is known as
Axe in most countries around the world.
Unilever is said to have been drawn to the Wild business because of both its
premium brand positioning and its commitment to sustainability.
Wild, which was founded by Charlie Bowes-Lyon and Freddy Ward, sells refillable
natural deodorants, lip balms, bodywashes and handwashes direct to consumers.
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The sale price of up to £230m is understood to include a sizeable earnout for
the founders, but even without that, the deal represents a remarkable triumph
for a business founded just six years ago.
Mr Ward told The Grocer, a trade magazine, in 2023 that Wild’s initial efforts
to produce a credible product were unsuccessful.
“We learned that we weren’t very good at making deodorant but there was demand
for the product if we could get it right,” he said.
“It just didn’t really work, was the problem.
“The formulation wasn’t very good.”
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A revamp of the product, which coincided with the remote shopping explosion
triggered by the Covid-19 crisis, paid dividends for the founders.
Since then, they have reportedly raised in the region of £10m from external
investors including Jamjar Ventures, the investment vehicle of Innocent Drinks’
founders, Redbus Ventures and Slingshot Ventures.
Its accounts for the year to 31 December 2023 show that sales reached close to
£47m, a 77% increase on the year before.
It recorded operating profit of £560,000.
“2023 represented a watershed moment in Wild’s short history as we delivered our
first year of profitable growth across the business,” the accounts – signed off
last July – said.
A sale to Unilever comes as the London-listed group contemplates a listing of
its vast ice cream division, which includes the Ben & Jerry’s brand.
The company is being lobbied to demerge in a deal involving the London Stock
Exchange, although exchanges in Amsterdam and New York are also under
consideration.
On Monday afternoon, shares in Unilever were trading at around £47.26, giving it
a market capitalisation of close to £116bn.
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Unilever declined to comment, while Wild Cosmetics had no means of being
immediately reached for comment.
