Unilever seeks to acquire new brands

The Jakarta Post

PT Unilever Indonesia, the publicly listed consumer goods maker, is in negotiations to acquire brands and pursue partnerships with local companies to help it strengthen its presence in the Indonesian market.

"We are negotiating with a number of companies," said Franky Jamin, Unilever corporate secretary, while refusing to name names.

"But it is possible to undertake other kinds of cooperation with those companies in case these negotiations fail."

The last brand the company acquired was Taro snacks, produced by PT Rasa Murni Utama, in 2003.

The acquisition plan was part of the company's expansion strategy, Franky said, so that it could retain its strong grip on the market and even strengthen it.

Unilever, already the country's largest consumer goods maker, produces processed foods and beverages such as instant noodles, tea and bread.

Turning to the company's performance, Franky said he was optimistic that sales would increase by more than 10 percent in the last quarter of the year, having registered a healthy 14 percent growth in the previous quarter.

Last year, the company, a unit of Rotterdam and London-based Unilever, booked a 1.62 percent drop in sales as the fuel price hikes eroded people's purchasing power.