Unilever (NYSE: UL)'s shares were up sharply in European trading early this morning and its ADRs continued higher in trading on the NYSE. At one point, the shares were up 4% to $33.77, a 52-week high.
Speculation is that Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) might make a run at the Dutch company. The fit would make sense. Unilever's core businesses are in food and personal care products. The company owns a large number of brands, including Dove soap, Slim Fast, Lipton, and Hellman's. Last year the company had sales of over $52 billion.
Unilever has a market cap of $44 billion, and that may be the problem -- Colgate's market cap is just $34 billion. As the smaller company, it would have to take on considerable debt or dilute its shareholders by an astonishing amount. While Colgate's businesses match Unilever's well, the duplicate corporate costs would not likely mean much if they were taken out of companies this large.
Nice rumor but not much more.
Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.
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