Ownership investigation · Case TL-021

Who Owns SheaMoisture Now?

Unilever owns SheaMoisture. It bought SheaMoisture’s parent company, Sundial Brands, in a deal completed on December 18, 2017. Sundial’s portfolio also included Nubian Heritage, Madam C.J. Walker and nyakio.

Ownership checked · 6 sources. A Black-founded heritage brand built to serve an underserved community is now part of a global consumer-goods company.

Shampoo and conditioner bottles on a bathroom shelf
Case TL-021 Ownership audit

SheaMoisture

Marketed as Family-recipe heritage brand
Actually owned by Unilever
Acquired 2017 Undisclosed

Ownership evidence

From a family trade to a Unilever brand

Ownership record Acquired 2017
SheaMoisture Unilever
Legal name
Unilever PLC
Headquarters
London, United Kingdom
Control
Publicly listed: shares trade on the London Stock Exchange and in Amsterdam, and as American Depositary Receipts on the New York Stock Exchange
Price paid
Undisclosed
Checked September 24, 2026. Each fact links to its source below.
  1. 1991

    Sundial Brands is founded

    Sundial Brands, the company behind SheaMoisture, starts in 1991 according to Unilever’s 2017 announcement.

  2. 2017

    Unilever agrees to buy Sundial

    The agreement was announced on November 27, 2017 and covered Sundial Brands, the New York-based company behind SheaMoisture, Nubian Heritage, Madam C.J. Walker and nyakio. Financial terms were not disclosed.

  3. 2017

    The deal completes

    Unilever recorded completion on December 18, 2017.

  4. 2026

    Still part of Unilever

    Our September 24, 2026 check still ties SheaMoisture to Unilever.

Also owned by Unilever

Seventh GenerationSchmidt'sWildLiving ProofLove Beauty and PlanetDr. SquatchNubian HeritagePaula's ChoiceDermalogicaTatcha +6 more

That distinction does not, by itself, prove that any specific product formula or safety profile changed. Any formula-change claim needs evidence from the exact product, variant, market and label date.

Evidence

Sources behind this file

Every ownership fact above traces to one of these pages.
SourceSupportsSite
Company record Unilever press release, November 2017 Founded · Control web.archive.org Company record Unilever 2017 full year results Control unilever.com Company record Unilever news, December 2022 Current owner unilever.com Company record SheaMoisture website footer Current owner sheamoisture.com Company record Unilever investor centre: Shares Legal name · Control unilever.com Reporting Wikipedia: Unilever Headquarters en.wikipedia.org

The takeaway

Not a quick flip

SheaMoisture’s story is different from most brands in our ownership files, and it deserves to be told honestly. This was not a two-year-old online brand sold for a quick payday. Sundial Brands had been building SheaMoisture since 1991, 26 years before the sale.

Richelieu Dennis built Sundial Brands from a street vendor operation into a company that served a community mainstream beauty had ignored for decades. SheaMoisture became more than a product: a symbol of Black entrepreneurship and self-care, formulated around shea butter traditions passed down through generations.

The acquisition announcement also created the New Voices Fund with an initial $50 million investment and an intention to scale it to $100 million by attracting other investors. That commitment and the ownership change are both part of the record.

SheaMoisture is Black-founded, but it is no longer Black-owned or independently owned.

Its sister brands from the same Sundial deal went to Unilever in the same transaction. We mapped the wider portfolio in your “natural” shampoo is owned by Unilever, and you can see who is still independent in our shampoo and conditioner reviews.

Decide for yourself

Curious what buyers are saying?

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Independent alternatives

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Hair care brands from our reviews with no corporate parent, according to each brand review. Scores are for the formula we reviewed. All three are among the five picks in our guide to the best clean shampoos from independent brands.

Questions

SheaMoisture ownership: common questions

Did SheaMoisture sell their company?

Yes. Unilever announced an agreement to acquire SheaMoisture's parent company, Sundial Brands, on November 27, 2017, and recorded completion on December 18, 2017. The acquired portfolio included SheaMoisture, Nubian Heritage, Madam C.J. Walker and nyakio.

How much did SheaMoisture sell for?

Unilever did not disclose the purchase price. The agreement included an initial $50 million investment in the New Voices Fund, with an intention to seek outside investment and scale the fund to $100 million.

Who founded SheaMoisture?

SheaMoisture was founded in 1991 by Richelieu Dennis, along with Nyema Tubman and his mother, Mary Dennis, under the company Sundial Brands. The recipes came from the Dennis family's shea butter trade in Sierra Leone, which spanned four generations.

Is SheaMoisture still Black-owned and independent?

No. SheaMoisture is owned by Unilever and is no longer Black-owned or independently owned. It remains a Black-founded brand; Unilever completed its acquisition of parent company Sundial Brands in December 2017.

What is Sundial Brands?

Sundial Brands is SheaMoisture's longtime parent company, founded in 1991. Its 2017 portfolio included SheaMoisture, Nubian Heritage, Madam C.J. Walker and nyakio. Unilever completed its purchase of Sundial Brands on December 18, 2017, which is how SheaMoisture became a Unilever brand.

Keep reading

SheaMoisture is one of many “indie” brands now owned by a large company. Here is the rest of our ownership research and the comparisons worth reading before you buy.

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