Protracted negotiations with Bestfoods finally ended last month when the Englewood Cliffs, NJ-based company agreed to be acquired by British-Dutch conglomerate Unilever for $20.3 billion. Bestfoods, makers of such household names as Skippy Peanut Butter and Hellman’s Mayonnaise, had spurned earlier offers from Unilever, and had toyed with the idea of buying Campbell Soup Co. By adding Bestfoods to other recent acquisitions Ben & Jerry’s and Slim-Fast, Unilever becomes the world’s second-largest food company behind Nestle. Unilever food brands include Lipton, Ragu, and Bird’s Eye.
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