Deloitte Romania advised Unilever in the acquisition of Betty Ice

Deloitte Romania assisted Unilever, a leading food, personal care and cleaning agents provider, in the acquisition of the largest local ice cream producer, Betty Ice, run by the entrepreneur Vasile Armenean. Unilever entered the local ice cream market in 2009, by launching the global brand Algida and by acquiring the Napoca brand. With the acquisition of Betty Ice, Unilever now consolidates its market leader position.

A mixed Deloitte Romania team of financial and tax advisory experts was involved in several phases of the Betty Ice acquisition, from due diligence, structure and negotiation, to the closing of the agreement.

“It was a pleasure working with Deloitte. During the entire process, we have been supported by a strong financial and tax team and benefitted from their business expertise. Their flexibility, openness and focus on service have been exceptional,” said Cristian Ungureanu, Financial Director, Unilever South Central Europe.

The Deloitte Romania financial advisors team was headed by Radu Dumitrescu, Transaction Support Services Partner, and included other five experts, among which Ioana Boca, Assistant Director, Marina Nicola, Manager, and Crina Ciudin, Senior Associate.

“This transaction is a milestone for this year’s M&A market, through its size and complexity. The whole team involved in the process showed real project management skills, as well as the experience and the expertise needed for the transaction to close successfully,” stated Radu Dumitrescu, Transaction Support Services Partner, Deloitte Romania.

The tax experts team was headed by Camelia Malahov, Direct Tax Manager, and Andreea Geacu, Senior Manager within the Tax Department.

“I would like to congratulate the multidisciplinary team of consultants from both Deloitte and Unilever working on this project, whose deep understanding of the tax related aspects of the consumer goods industry contributed to the timely completion of one of the largest transactions of this year,” said Camelia Malahov, Direct Tax Manager, Deloitte Romania.

Deloitte Romania coordinates a multidisciplinary M&A practice with a holistic approach, that includes areas such as due diligence services, tax advisory and legal services. Deloitte professionals can therefore cover all relevant aspects of a transaction. Throughout 2018, the Deloitte Romania integrated M&A team has been involved in many large-scale transactions in industries such as financial, real estate, IT, manufacturing and other services.

Unilever is a world leading supplier of food, personal care and cleaning agents, present in over 190 countries, reaching 2.5 billion consumers each day. Unilever has more than 400 brands that can be found in homes around the world, including Omo, Dove, Knorr, Domestos, Hellmann’s, Lipton, Ben & Jerry, Magnum and Axe. In Romania, Unilever has been present since 1991, acquiring the Dero detergent factory in 1995. Subsequently, in 2006, Unilever built a food processing plant where it produces, amongst others, the Delikat brand.

Deloitte provides worldwide audit, consulting, legal, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax and related services to public and private clients spanning multiple industries. Deloitte serves four out of five Fortune Global 500 companies through a globally connected network of member firms in more than 150 countries and territories bringing world-class capabilities, insights, and high-quality services to address clients' most complex business challenges. Deloitte's purpose is to make an impact that matters through its approximately 286,000 professionals.

Deloitte Romania is one of the leading professional services organizations in the country, providing services, in cooperation with Reff & Associates, in audit, tax, legal, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, business processes, technology and other related fields, through more than 1,200 professionals.