Is Unilever Acquiring Honest Beauty?

Is beauty care M&A about to experience its next big deal? Honest Beauty, which recently joined the Organic Trade Association and expanded its retail to Ulta, is reportedly in talks to be acquired by Unilever PLC for about $1 billion, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The deal would give Unilever a bigger stake in natural beauty care products, a key market. The global giant previously plugged its gap in male grooming with the purchase of Dollar Shave Club.

Honest Beauty, which could still follow an IPO route, has annual sales of about $300 million from baby diapers, personal care and beauty products, and household cleansers.