Want Want competes in China with the likes of Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Unilever and Wahaha.

FORBES: Chinese Snack Food Giant Want Want Says Net Profit Soared 38% In 1st Half Of 2012

The deal includes Unilever's Skippy manufacturing facilities in Little Rock, Arkansas and in the Shandong province of China.

BBC: Skippy peanut butter sold to Spam owner

Unilever benefits from India's continued reliance on small family shops (compared with the supermarkets prevalent in China), with which it has long-established relationships, and from India's far larger bottom-of-the-pyramid population.

ECONOMIST: Consumer goods