950823

Lever Brothers,

Brooke Bond

decide to

merge

KARACHI: The respective Boards of Directors of Lever Brothers Pakistan Limited and Brooke Bond Pakistan Limited have decided to merge the two companies to form a unified corporate entity proposed to be named Unilever Pakistan. The legal process for the the merger will follow.

The move comes at a commercially appropriate time as Pakistan's liberalized economy offers opportunities to companies to achieve higher productivity and profitability through economies of scale. The merger will benefit the shareholders, employees and consumers of both the companies.

Unilever Pakistan will have the size, strength and dynamism to undertake investment and development on a large scale. Already, new investment of more than Rs 1 billion is planned and massive efforts will be undertaken, using Unilever's worldwide expertise and technology, to accelerate growth particularly in the foods sector.

The merger will not affect the terms of service of the employees of the two companies, their long term prospects or opportunities for promotion. One of the important priorities of the merged companies will be to grow the business. This will create challenging opportunities for the people at all levels in the company.

For shareholders, the new merged company will open up larger potential for return on their investment, and with the prospect of higher profits, the value of their shares should increase. The shareholders of Brooke Bond Pakistan will specially derive benefits accruing from a stronger company.

The synergies of the two companies, their combined resources and the economies of scale will lead to the lowering of the cost of materials, operations, administration and finance and substantially enhance the competitiveness of their products which will benefit the Pakistani consumers.

Unilever Pakistan will be looking forward through the increased availability of its wide range of products to a reduction in imports and opportunities for exports.

At the same time, a series of benefits will accrue nationally. A major contribution of Unilever Pakistan will be in terms of research, development and technology transfer. Unilever is spending about US$ 800 million annually on research and development and Pakistan will benefit from transfer of technology. The growth envisaged from the proposed merger will result also in increased employment opportunities and higher contributions to the national exchequer in the shape of taxes and duties.