The company holds relatively high market share positions in many key markets -- ice cream in Turkey, laundry detergent in South Africa and soups & sauces in Indonesia. Unilever Brazil is the seventh largest operating company in that country.
 
Similarly in Asia, Unilever is a market leader in many categories including face care, skin cleansing, hair care, and fabric cleaning. The strategy of building relationships with local customers and suppliers through the managers who share the same culture is paving the way towards success in the developing and emerging markets for Unilever.

Another strong market for Unilever is Russia, with 7 manufacturing and production sites, along with leading brands such as Becel, Brooke Bond, Calvé, Hellmann's, Knorr and Lipton, together with Axe, Cif, Clear, Domestos, Dove, Rexona, Sunsilk and Timotei.

In addition, to strengthen Unilever’s existing dressing’s portfolio and its competitive position in Russia, one of its priority countries, the company acquired Baltimor Holding ZAO's sauces business, the leading ketchup business in Russia.

The acquisition, which follows the purchase of Russia's leading ice cream business, Inmarko, in 2008 and its commitment to build a state-of-the-art food production facility in Tula, further consolidates the position of Unilever's business in Russia.

Unilever’s research and development, along with its knowledge of the foods business -- coupled with Baltimor's local strengths -- can significantly enhance the company’s position in the Russian ketchup and dressings market.

We currently maintain a Buy rating on Unilever, as we expect the stock’s P/E to expand from current levels, driven by benefits from various growth plans along with cost savings from overhead simplification project.

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Here are highlights from Monday's Analyst Blog:

Oracle Getting Burned by Sun Deal?

Oracle Corp. (ORCL) has agreed to buy Sun Microsystems, Inc. (JAVA) for $7.4 billion ($9.50 a share) after IBM Corp. (IBM) backed out of its deal. Oracle is a software company (successful software companies become "banks" because they generate so much cash) and so the antitrust problem that existed for IBM is not a factor in the Oracle transaction.

This is a departure for Oracle and, in my opinion, is an expensive foray into uncharted territory. There is no reason to think that a software company can run a hardware and service business. So Sun is likely to retain the unsuccessful management that has failed to turn Sun back into a profitable company.

The purchase price is too much; Sun having been shopped to all and sundry. This is a major coup for the investment bankers who have maximized a fee from a deal that few, if any, companies would buy at that price.

New Software for Supply Chains

Unilever (UL) and Procter & Gamble (PG) have announced that they are adopting a new technology to improve supply chain efficiency. Both companies have selected Terra Technology's real-time forecasting solutions to better sense consumer demand. Through Terra's software, these consumer products companies can further optimize inventory levels and manufacturing planning.

Terra's product uses pattern recognition mathematics that deciphers daily streams of order flow data and determines which information is truly predictive of actual demand. Specifically, the software reconciles daily demand signals along the supply chain, such as point-of-sale (POS) data, retailer warehouse inventories, outlet inventories, and retailer forecasts.

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Sara Lee Corp. (SLE) shares rose sharply this morning on reports that the company was looking to sell its European household unit for more than $2 billion to focus more on the core food and beverage business.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal said the company has hired Goldman Sachs to examine possible bidders for the business that accounts for about 15% of its sales. Sara Lee spokesman Mike Cummins declined to comment on what he called speculation.

The Downers Grove, Illinois-based company swung to a loss in the latest second quarter as a stronger dollar weighed on its international sales and consumer spending continued to slump amid the global economic downturn. Sara Lee, which spun off apparel maker Hanesbrands in 2006, has been looking to streamline operations since then.

The Journal pointed to Unilever (UN), Reckitt Benckiser and Colgate-Palmolive (CL) as possible buyers of Sara Lee's European unit that makes Kiwi shoe polish, Sanex deodorant and Bloom insecticides.

Shares of the company were up 5% to $7.69 at noon on the New York Stock Exchange. They have lost more than half of their value since August.