LONDON (Standard&Poor's) Sept. 27, 2010--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings and outlook on the Unilever group (A+/Stable/A-1) are unaffected by today's announcement that the group has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire U.S.-based personal care product manufacturer Alberto-Culver Co. (BBB/Stable/--), for $3.7 billion in cash. (U.K.-based Unilever PLC and Netherlands-based Unilever N.V. are the joint parent companies of the Unilever group.) We anticipate that, if the transaction goes ahead, Unilever's ratio of funds from operations to debt should, within 12 months of completing the transaction, recover to about 35%, which we consider compatible with the current rating level. This is based on the group's ability to generate about €1 billion of discretionary cash
