Smooth move: Unilever hopes to sharpen up its business with takeover of razor startup Dollar Shave Club
Consumer goods giant Unilever has expanded its men's grooming offerings by snapping up the US-based razor startup Dollar Shave Club.
The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, though sources told Fortune Unilever paid $1bn (£760m) for the razor subscription company.
Unilever said in a statement Dollar Shave Club's chief executive Michael Dubin will continue in his role after the transaction closes in the third quarter.
Founded in 2012, Dollar Shave Club is a subscription service in which customers choose one of three razors and are then posted replacement cartridges for a few dollars per month.
Read more: Hairy hipsters drive down sales of male grooming products
However, the club is not exclusively for men. According to Dollar Shave Club's website: "Our lady members rave about the Executive Razor and Dr. Carver's Shave Butter."
Its product offering has expanded in the past few years to include men's personal wash and skincare products, hair styling products and "One Wipe Charlies" daily wipes.
The company, which has 3.2m members, reported turnover of $152m in 2015 and is on track to exceed $200m this year.
Read more: Dove and Persil maker Unilever to wash out gender stereotyping from adverts
“Dollar Shave Club is an innovative and disruptive male grooming brand with incredibly deep connections to its diverse and highly engaged consumers,” said Kees Kruythoff, president of Unilever North America.
“In addition to its unique consumer and data insights, Dollar Shave Club is the category leader in its direct-to-consumer space. We plan to leverage the global strength of Unilever to support Dollar Shave Club in achieving its full potential in terms of offering and reach.”
Michael Dubin, founder and chief executive of Dollar Shave Club, said: “DSC couldn’t be happier to have the world’s most innovative and progressive consumer-product company in our corner. We have long admired Unilever’s purpose-driven business leadership and its category expertise is unmatched. We are excited to be part of the family.”