Deals
Unilever Cuts Costs on Flights, Products as Activists Circle
- Consumer-product giant steps up efficiences after Kraft bid
- Rivals Nestle, P&G face off with activists Loeb, Peltz
Unilever CEO Polman Seeks Value Enhancing M&A
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Unilever is sharpening its focus on profitability by lifting prices and cutting spending on everything from employee flights to product ingredients as activist investors take aim at consumer-goods giants wrestling with slow growth.
The maker of Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Dove soap said Thursday it’s stepping up an efficiency drive as it responds to a failed takeover bid from Kraft Heinz Co. and rivals Nestle SA and Procter & Gamble Co. come under pressure from activists Dan Loeb and Nelson Peltz.