Unilever to Acquire Swedish Air Purifier Blueair
16 Aug 2016 --- Unilever is to acquire the Swedish indoor purification company Blueair, as the Anglo-Dutch company looks to further shift away from its slow growth food business.
Blueair is a 20-year-old business, launched in Stockholm, which supplies air purifiers in 60 countries including China, the US, Japan, South Korea and India.
The popularity of indoor air purifiers has grown in recent years, as health-conscious consumers become increasingly aware of the risks to their health posed by poor air quality.
Blueair said its products remove up to 99.9 percent of all containments from the air, including allergens and viruses.
The business will fit into Unilever’s existing water purification business, which it has been looking to build up. In 2014, Unilever purchased Qinyuan, a water purification business in China which marked Unilever's biggest purchase in the country in over 10 years.
Nitin Paranjpe, president of Unilever’s Home Care business said: “We are delighted to be adding Blueair to our Home Care portfolio. The Blueair brand and products are widely known and represent exceptional quality and design, as well as superior capacity and performance. Blueair was founded on the belief that business should be a force for good in society, which is shared by Unilever.”
Blueair founder Bengt Rittri said: “Blueair was launched 20 years ago with the mission to start a clean air revolution by bringing people the world’s best air purifiers.”
“This mission remains embedded in the company values of Blueair today as we continuously work to elevate people’s health and wellbeing in a world where WHO says outdoor air pollution has been continuously increasing over the past several years, with billions of people now exposed to dangerous air.”
“ We are saying yes to leveraging the help of Unilever – one of the world’s most admired corporations for its sustainability practices – to help Blueair take the next step to allow more people to take action to create safe indoor havens for themselves, their loved ones, work colleagues and customers.
“Unilever is the best possible partner to help Blueair more quickly fulfil its mission to help people enjoy the health benefits of breathing clean air.”
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Unilever's acquisition of Blueair follows just weeks after it announced that it was getting into the razor business by acquiring the US business Dollar Shave Club for around $1billion.
The acquisition of Dollar Shave Club and Blueair underscores Unilever chief executive Paul Polman's strategy of shifting the business away from slow-growth food to higher growth areas such as personal and home care.
In recent years, Unilever has sold of businesses such as Ragu pasta sauces and its US frozen meals. Some analysts expect Unilever to dispose of its spreads business, including Flora, which is suffering from falling sales.
