European regulator extends Unilever-Sara Lee $1.3-billion deal

The EU competition watchdog has extended its review of Unilever's proposed acquisition of Sara Lee's body care business to find out whether the deal will be advantageous to Unilever in some markets.

The Brussels-based European Commission said today that it will extend the deadline for approving or blocking the deal from 31 May to 5 October 2010.

Anglo Dutch Unilever, the world's third-largest consumer products company after Procter & Gamble and Nestle, had said last week that it expected the regulator to extend the probe after it refused to offer concessions-like selling off some units to address competition concerns.

London and Rotterdam-based Unilever had proposed in September 2009 to acquire the Illinois, US-based Sara Lee's worldwide soaps and deodorants businesses including the Sanex and Duschdas brands.

Under the proposed acquisition, Unilever will acquire a portfolio of more than 90 brands, across a number of different categories in 19 European countries.

Unilever said today in a statement, ''It has become clear from Phase I that the Commission needed more time to determine the full implications of the deal from a competition perspective on particular European markets.''