Unilever Boosts Wellness Portfolio with SmartyPants As it Unifies Under One Parent
Unilever will acquire SmartyPants Vitamins as the company builds out its health and wellness portfolio.
Founded in 2011 and based in Los Angeles, SmartyPants Vitamins taps into non-GMO certified ingredients and sustainably sourced bio-available nutrients while nixing things like artificial flavors and sweeteners, preservatives and synthetic colors. It also trumpets its commitment to more sustainable packaging.
SmartyPants products are sold through more than 30,000 U.S. stores — including Amazon, Costco, Target, Walmart, Whole Foods Market and Walgreens — and will join such complementary Unilever brands as Horlicks, OLLY and Equilibra.
It will also be in good company with Liquid I.V., the nutrition and wellness company Unilever picked up earlier this year.
A partnership with Vitamin Angels has resulted in SmartyPants Vitamins reaching more than 14 million mothers and children worldwide with nutrient grants, with a goal set to reach 100 million by 2025. Fabian Garcia, president of Unilever North America, noted that the brand aligns with the No. 4 consumer goods company’s mission “to improve the health and wellbeing of consumers and empower people to take charge of their health with solutions they can understand and trust.”
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Separately, Unilever announced its unification under a single parent company, Unilever PLC, is now complete. It will now trade with one market capitalization, one class of shares and a global pool of liquidity, while maintaining listings on the New York, London and Amsterdam stock exchanges. As part of this, Unilever NV no longer exists.
No change to operations, locations, activities or staffing levels are expected in The Netherlands, where its foods and refreshment division is headquartered, or the United Kingdom, site of its home care, beauty and personal care divisions.
Nils Andersen, Unilever chairman, called it an important day for the company, noting the change will provide it with “greater flexibility for strategic portfolio change, remove complexity and further improve governance.”
