Who owns Lipton?
Lipton is owned by CVC (Jersey, AEX: CVC), which has owned the brand since 1 July 2022.[1][2] Before CVC, Lipton was owned by Unilever to 2022.[3]
Evidence: Unilever PLC Form 6-K: Half Year 2022 results, SEC EDGAR, 26 July 2022. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- CVC Capital Partners plc verified
- Owned since
- Previous owner
- Unilever (?–2022)
- Owner HQ
- 🇯🇪 Jersey · browse countries
- Origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Founded
- 1890 by Thomas Lipton
- Category
- Beverages › Coffee, tea & hot drinks › Tea
- Parent ticker
- AEX: CVC
- Last verified
- · 3 sources
About Lipton
Lipton was founded in Glasgow in 1890 by a grocer who bought Ceylon tea estates so he could sell tea at prices ordinary households could afford. Unilever sold its global tea business, ekaterra, to CVC Capital Partners Fund VIII, completing the sale on 1 July 2022 for €4.7 billion. The sale left out Unilever's tea business in India, Nepal and Indonesia and its interests in the Pepsi Lipton ready-to-drink joint ventures, so bottled Lipton iced tea is a separate business.
Ownership timeline of Lipton
- Until 2022 Unilever [3] verified
- 2022 – present CVC [1][2] verified Held through ekaterra, the tea business that CVC Capital Partners Fund VIII bought from Unilever. The sale excluded Unilever's tea business in India, Nepal and Indonesia and its interests in the Pepsi Lipton ready-to-drink joint ventures.
Where Lipton sits in CVC
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full CVC ownership tree →
Other brands in tea, and who owns them
The 32 brands in tea on Brandtree belong to 20 owners. The largest is Orimi Trade, with 6.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Gita | Orimi Trade | 🇷🇺 Russia |
| Fahari Ya Kenya | Ketepa | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
| Five Roses | AVI | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| ITO EN Matcha Green Tea | ITO EN | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Piala Gold | RG Brands | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan |
| Tata Tea | Tata Consumer | 🇮🇳 India |
| Good Nature | Alkaloid | 🇲🇰 North Macedonia |
| Twinings | Associated British Foods | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
About the owner: CVC
CVC is a publicly listed company headquartered in Jersey. Brandtree records 1 brand under its control, and it is listed as AEX: CVC.
CVC is a private-markets investment manager. Its parent, CVC Capital Partners plc, is listed on Euronext Amsterdam and its annual report applies Jersey company law. CVC Capital Partners Fund VIII bought Unilever's global tea business, ekaterra, which includes Lipton, in a sale Unilever completed on 1 July 2022.
🇬🇧 Lipton and other British brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 552 brands that began in the United Kingdom. 291 of them (53%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, Lipton among them.
- Badger — Hall & Woodhouse 🇬🇧
- Balblair — ThaiBev 🇹🇭
- Beefeater — Pernod Ricard 🇫🇷
- Bishops Finger — Shepherd Neame 🇬🇧
- Bombay Sapphire — Bacardi 🇧🇲
- Boost — A.G. Barr 🇬🇧
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Lipton?
The parent company of Lipton is CVC, a publicly listed company headquartered in Jersey.
Is Lipton British or Jersey?
Lipton originated in the United Kingdom in 1890, but it is owned today by CVC, which is headquartered in Jersey. So Lipton is a British-origin brand under Jersey ownership.
Since when has CVC owned Lipton?
CVC has owned Lipton since 1 July 2022.
Who owned Lipton before CVC?
Before CVC, Lipton was owned by Unilever until 2022.
Is Lipton still owned by CVC?
Yes. As of 2 October 2026, Lipton is still owned by CVC. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (3) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Unilever PLC Form 6-K: Half Year 2022 results — SEC EDGAR, SEC filing, published 26 July 2022; retrieved 2 October 2026.
- [2] Unilever to sell its Tea business, ekaterra, to CVC Capital Partners Fund VIII for €4.5bn — CVC Capital Partners, Official press release, published 18 November 2021; retrieved 2 October 2026.
- [3] Unilever PLC Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2025 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 20-F, published 12 March 2026; retrieved 16 September 2026.
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