Unilever has acquired personal care brand Wild, marking one of the consumer goods giant’s most significant acquisitions in several years.
The terms of the deal have not been disclosed but it is believed to value Wild at around £230m.
Wild joins Unilever’s roster of deodorants that includes the UK’s three biggest brands: Sure, Lynx and Dove. Together, they make up more than half the market’s total value.
Unilever approached the company last summer as it sought to expand its portfolio of “sustainable brands”, co-founder Charlie Bowes-Lyon told The Times.
The deal requires the founders to complete a two-year earn-out based on “challenging” sales targets. Much of the growth is expected to come from the US, where sales have tripled over the past two years thanks to listings in major retailers such as Target.
Wild’s premium positioning and its commitment to sustainability have proven an alluring combination for shoppers, with sales rising 77% to £46.9m in the year to December 2023, according to its latest accounts at Companies House.
This delivered Wild its first-ever profit of £509k as its “strategy to diversify geographically and scale our physical presence to complement our DTC business started to pay off”.
Wild was founded by Bowes-Lyon and Freddy Ward in 2019, initially selling to customers online before launching into retail in 2021. It makes refillable natural deodorants as well as lip balms, bodywashes and handwashes.
In the UK, Wild is stocked in major supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.
Bowes-Lyon said the company’s mission to remove single-use plastic from the bathroom “will be hugely strengthened by leveraging Unilever’s expertise, scale and reach to further grow the brand and bring our vision to more consumers”.
Fabian Garcia, Unilever’s president of personal care, said: “The brand’s innovative approach to formulations and packaging, and social-first marketing, has made Wild an unmissably superior brand, and a perfect complement to our personal care portfolio.”
The sale comes as Unilever looks to streamline its portfolio to focus on its 30 big ‘power brands’. Last month, it agreed to sell The Vegetarian Butcher to JBS-owned Vivera for an undisclosed price.
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