Unilever, the maker of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Signal toothpaste and Lipton tea, has made its biggest acquisition in China for more than a decade with the purchase of a majority stake in Qinyuan Group, a water purification business.
联合利华(Unilever)完成了十多年来其在中国的最大一笔收购，将净水企业沁园集团(Qinyuan Group)的多数股份纳入囊中。联合利华是Ben & Jerry's冰淇淋、洁诺(Signal)牙膏和立顿(Lipton)茶饮的生产商。
The Anglo-Dutch consumer goods company said the acquisition would more than double the size of its water purification business, which has been based on its Pureit home purifier.
这家英荷消费品企业表示，此次收购将使其净水业务的规模扩大一倍以上。该公司自有的净水产品为净水宝(Pureit)家用净水器。
The company did not disclose the price nor the size of its stake but Qinyuan, founded in 1998, had sales last year of 140m.
联合利华没有披露对沁园的持股规模和收购价格。沁园创建于1998年，去年的销售额为1.4亿欧元。
Unilever last hit the acquisition trail in China in 1999 when it bought ice cream maker Mountain Cream.
联合利华在中国的上一次收购还要回溯至1999年，那一年它收购了冰淇淋生产商蔓登琳(Mountain Cream)。
Paul Polman, chief executive, said Qinyuan, which uses a different purification technology from Pureit, “will bring together complementary technology from Pureit and Qinyuan and leverage Qinyuan’s local marketing insight, manufacturing and distribution strength”.
联合利华行政总裁保罗•波尔曼(Paul Polman)表示，沁园的净水技术与净水宝完全不同，此次收购“将为净水宝和沁园带来技术互补，同时发挥沁园对本地市场的洞察力以及生产和分销优势。”
Water purification is a relatively small and fragmented market in China.
中国的净水市场目前相对较小且较为分散化。
Under Mr Polman, Unilever is exiting low-growth food businesses in mature markets in favour of greater exposure to emerging markets, as well as putting the accent on healthier products.
在波尔曼的领导下，联合利华正逐步退出成熟市场低增长的食品业务，转而扩大在新兴市场的业务规模，并把业务重点放在健康产品上。