Hindustan Lever to transfer marine products business, change name as Hindustan Unilever Ltd

Hindustan Lever Ltd has announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on February 20, 2007, inter alia, has considered the following:

1. A proposal for transfer of the Undertaking of the Company engaged in the business of manufacture and sale of marine products (including manufacturing facilities for (i) Surimi crabsticks, crabclaws, crab chunks and allied products at Chorwad in Gujarat, (ii) fish fillet, crab, octopus, squids and allied products at Kuthiathode in Kerala and (iii) Salad shrimps, fish fillets and allied products at Aroor in Kerala) as a slump sale to a suitable party / parties or to one or more of the subsidiaries of the Company (if that is required to facilitate the transfer) by way of sale or assignment at such consideration and with effect from such date as the Board of Directors of the Company may think fit.

Accordingly, in compliance with Section 293 (1) (a) read with Section 192A of the Companies Act, 1956 and Companies (Passing of Resolution by Postal Ballot) Rules 2001, a notice is proposed to be issued to the shareholders for a postal ballot to seek their approval for the proposed transfer by way of an ordinary resolution and in this connection, the Board has appointed, Mr. S R Tata, Partner, A F Ferguson & Co. Chartered Accountants as the scrutiniser for conducting the postal ballot, and on the basis of his report, the result of the postal ballot will be announced on March 31, 2007.

2. On February, 20, 2007, the Company has announced that the Board of Directors of the company has approved, subject to shareholders approval, the change of the Company name from "Hindustan Lever Ltd" to "Hindustan Unilever Ltd."

The proposal for the name change will be taken up at the next Annual General Meeting of the shareholders of the Company to be held on May 18, 2007 for their approval.

The Company believes that the proposed name change provides the optimum balance between maintaining the heritage of the Company and the future benefits and synergies of global alignment with the corporate name of Unilever. Most importantly the proposed name retains "Hindustan" as the first word in its name to reflect the Company's continued commitment to local economy, consumers and customers and employees.

Mr. Harish Manwani, Chairman of the Company and President, Unilever Asia Amet, said, "The name change is a significant milestone. It retains the Company's continued commitment towards us local roots while leveraging the global scale and reputation of Unilever with its consumers and other stakeholders in India."

Source : Equity Bulls

Keywords