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P&G settles with Unilever
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September 6, 2001: 2:03 p.m. ET
Maker of household products settles with Unilever on spying charges
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Procter & Gamble Co. reached a settlement with Unilever PLC over improper corporate spying by P&G into Unilever's hair care business.
P&G Chairman John Pepper said he has been personally involved to ensure that any information gained by P&G will not be used in any of its plans. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"This was an unfortunate incident," Pepper said in a statement. "The activities were not in keeping with P&G principles and policies."
The settlement follows months of negotiations that began after P&G senior management discovered that outside contractors had obtained Unilever hair care marketing information using means that did not meet P&G's rules.
Cincinnati-based P&G (PG: down $0.87 to $75.01, Research, Estimates) makes household products such as Ivory soap, Crest toothpaste and Pampers diapers. The company's hair care products include Head & Shoulders, Pert, and Vidal Sassoon shampoo.
Rotterdam, Netherlands-based Unilever (UN: down $0.70 to $60.03, Research, Estimates), the world's largest maker of food and soap products, makes Dove soap, Lipton tea and other items. Its hair care brands include Organics, SunSilk and ThermaSilk.
The so-called P&G "espionage" had been taking place since fall 2000 and continued through Spring 2001. P&G management voluntarily alerted Unilever in April when it became aware of the activities, a spokeswoman said. P&G gained the Unilever information through a business information gathering project, she said.
"When we discovered what the information was, we stopped the project and advised Unilever," she said.
Three P&G employees have since been fired.
Unilever could not immediately be reached for comment.
-- from staff and wire reports 
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