The board of directors of Hindustan Lever, which met today, has approved, subject to shareholders approval, the change of the company name from Hindustan Lever to Hindustan Unilever.According to an official release issued today, the proposal for the name change will be taken up at the next annual general meeting of the shareholders to be held on May 18, 2007 for their approval."The company believes that the proposed name change provides the optimum balance between maintaining the heritage of the company and the future benefits and synergies of global alignment with the corporate name of Unilever. Most importantly the proposed name retains Hindustan as the first word in its name to reflect the company's continued commitment to local economy, consumers and customers and employees," the release added.Harish Manwani, chairman of the company and president, Unilever Asia Amet, said: "The name change is a significant milestone. It retains the company's continued commitment towards local roots while leveraging the global scale and reputation of Unilever with its consumers and other stakeholders in India."The board also approved a proposal to transfer the the business of manufacture and sale of marine products as a slump sale to suitable party/parties or to one or more of the subsidiaries of the company, the release added.
