Unilever cuts deep into razor market with Dollar Shave Club acquisition

THE HAGUE: Anglo-Dutch food and consumer products giant Unilever said on Wednesday it had bought the Dollar Shave Club, a US start-up that has shaken up the market

THE HAGUE: Anglo-Dutch food and consumer products giant Unilever said on Wednesday it had bought the Dollar Shave Club, a US start-up that has shaken up the market with its subscription model.

HT Image

Unilever did not disclose the price paid for the California-based company, but both Bloomberg News and Fortune magazine reported it was around $1 billion (₹6,710 crore), or about five times its projected revenue this year.

Founded in 2012, Dollar Shave Club has quickly “grown into a full male grooming business ... empowering 3.2 million members”, Unilever said. The company offered US men an alternative to increasingly expensive blades with its subscriptions over the internet that delivered a month’s worth of twin-blade razors for $1 plus shipping.

Dollar Shave Club will give Unilever a boost in the men’s razor market. In fact Dollar Shave Club, although available only in the United States, Australia and Canada, already has a higher share of the global men’s shaving market than Unilever.

“We plan to leverage the global strength of Unilever to support Dollar Shave Club in achieving its full potential ,” said Kees Kruythoff, president of U nil ever North America.