EXHIBIT 99.1
UNILEVER COMPLETES BESTFOODS ACQUISITION
NEW YORK, Oct. 4, 2000 -- Unilever is pleased to announce that, with all
conditions having been satisfied, the acquisition of Bestfoods has today
been completed.
UNILEVER BACKGROUND: Unilever is one of the world's largest consumer
products companies with sales in excess of $45 billion. It produces and
markets a wide range of foods, home and personal care products. Unilever
operates in 88 countries around the globe and employs 255,000 people.
In the United States, Unilever sales exceeded $8 billion in 1999. It
employs 22,000 people and has 72 offices and manufacturing sites in 24
states. Two of Unilever's 12 global Business Groups are headquartered in
the United States. Some of their major products are: Foods - North America:
Lipton teas, soups, recipe products and side dishes; Wish-Bone salad
dressings; Lawry's seasonings and specialty sauces; Imperial, Promise,
Country Crock, "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!", Brummel & Brown spreads
and sprays; Ragu pasta and pizza sauces; Five Brothers premium pasta
sauces; Klondike, Good-Humor, Popsicle, Breyers and Ben & Jerry's ice cream
products, Gorton's frozen seafood products and Slim-Fast nutritional and
health snack products. Unilever Home and Personal Care - North America:
Wisk, "all" and Surf laundry detergents; Snuggle and Final Touch fabric
softeners; Sunlight dish detergents; Lever 2000, Caress, Dove and Shield
bar soaps; Pond's and Vaseline skin care products; Q-tips cotton swabs and
cotton balls; Mentadent, Aim, Close-up and Pepsodent oral care products;
Degree, Suave and Brut deodorant/toiletry products; Finesse, Salon
Selectives, Suave, ThermaSilk, Aqua Net and Rave hair care products; and
Calvin Klein and Elizabeth Arden cosmetic and fragrance products. In
addition, DiverseyLever, a global professional cleaning business, operates
in North America, supplying professional cleaning materials and services to
institutional and industrial markets.
CONTACT: John T. Gould, Jr., 212/906-4694, Unilever, New York
