Unilever

   Multinational corporation that was the result of a merger of several enterprises specializing in dairy products and soap. It be gan with the companies founded by the Jurgens brothers and the Van den Bergh family in the city of Oss in Northern Brabantin 1801 and 1859, respectively. They cooperated as merchants in dairy and food products with the Englishman William Lever, who bought a soap fac tory in the same place. In 1895, the Van den Berghs founded a new company in England, which was moved to Rotterdam in 1919. In 1929, the several enterprises merged, with margarine as one of its main products. Today, Unilever is one of the leading companies in numerous sectors, including not only food and detergents but also chemical products, paper, synthetic materials, feed, transport, and plantations. Since 2005, the British and Dutch parts of this multina tional company (headquartered in London and Rotterdam, respec tively) have had only one senior executive.