Unilever takes control of Asian venture for £238m

Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant, is to take full control of its Asian food joint venture at a cost of $381m (£238m). The deal brings Unilever little in the way of extra brands but tidies up the last loose end from its $20bn acquisition of Bestfoods in 2000, which gave the group a 50 per cent stake in CPC/Aji Asia.

Unilever will buy half of the stake held by its Japanese partner Ajinomoto next month and the remainder in March next year. It will have full management control of the Asian food group from next month.

Patrick Cescau, director of Unilever Foods, said the move would strengthen the company's Bestfoods operations. "This is a strategically important acquisition as it further strengthens the presence of our leading brands in a high-growth regional market of more than 190 million consumers."

CPC/Aji Asia owns six factories in five locations: Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan. It has a sales and marketing office in Singapore and employs 1,900 people in Asia. A Unilever spokesman declined to give details on how many jobs would go as a result of the deal, but said the company would be looking to "achieve some synergies".

CPC/Aji started life as a joint venture between Ajinomoto – Japanese for monosodium glutamate – and Bestfoods in 1987. As with Unilever, its leading brands account for the bulk of its sales. In 2002, products such as Hellmann's mayonnaise and Knorr soups contributed 80 per cent towards the company's total sales of $330m.

Unilever said the deal would be accretive to its net profit before exceptional items and amortisation of goodwill and intangibles in the first year. CPC/Aji's average underlying sales growth of 7.5 per cent per annum over the past four years is in line with Unilever's targeted sales growth. The deal is worth 10.8 times ebitda (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation), Unilever said.