Jessica Alba might hear a loud cha-ching! in her bank account soon.
On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported Unilever PLC—which oversees popular brands like Dove, Lipton and Axe—is currently in discussions to buy the actress' billion-dollar company, Honest Co.
A spokesperson for Unilever tells E! News, "We don't comment on market speculation."
However, WSJ is reporting the company is in early talks to make a $1 billion deal with Alba and Honest Co., which is a drop from the company's $1.7billion valuation.
Honest Co. has yet to respond about the speculation.
Sonia Moskowitz/WireImage
Alba founded the company with Christopher Gavigan, Sean Kane andBrian Lee in 2011 with a mission to sell sustainable, natural baby, beauty and household products that are safe for families and children.
The company has raised more than $200 million in the last five years from investors and reportedly generates roughly $300 million in revenue.
However, it hasn't found success without problems.
In September 2015, a class action lawsuit was filed against Honest Co., which asked for a minimum of $5 million after alleging the company changed the formula for its SPF 30 sunscreen and removed more than half of the zinc oxide (the chemical that protects against the sun), causing a number of users to get sunburned.
Just a few weeks before that, another consumer ffiled a different lawsuit against the company, claiming the brand "deceptively and misleadingly labeled and marketed its products" by calling them "natural." He and the class members were seeking at least $5 million in damages plus interest on all liquidated sums.
"Based on Honest's representations that the Products were natural, [Rubin] and the Class paid a premium for the Products over comparable products that did not purport to be natural," the lawsuit, which was obtained by E! News, stated. "Instead of receiving products that were natural, [Rubin] and the Class received the Products, which, contrary to Honest's representations, contained synthetic ingredients."
Courtesy of Stefanie Keenan/WireImage
At the time, Alba called the allegations "baseless and without merit."
"We strongly stand behind our products and the responsibility we have to our consumers," she said. "We are steadfast in our commitment to transparency and openness."
In March of this year, yet another report surfaced that claimed the company's detergent contains the compound sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), an ingredient they've previously expressed consumers should avoid.
"Our findings support that there is a significant amount of sodium lauryl sulfate in Honest's detergent," Barbara Pavan, a chemist at Impact Analytical, told WSJ at the time.
post by Ify
Tag; E! news