UPDATE 2-Colgate buys Sanex from Unilever for $940 million

* Colgate Palmolive buys Sanex brand from Unilever

* Deal comes after Unilever was ordered to sell Sanex

* Unilever buys Colgate Colombian detergent brands

(Rewrites with further detail, changes dateline)

LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - U.S. consumer goods group Colgate-Palmolive (CL.N) has agreed to pay around $940 million for Sanex, a shower gel and deodorant brand which owner Unilever (ULVR.L) (UNc.AS) had been ordered to sell.

The European Commission asked Unilever to divest Sanex for anti-trust reasons after the Anglo-Dutch company acquired it when buying U.S. group Sara Lee's SLE.N personal care business in 2009.

Sanex had sales of 187 million euros ($265 million) in 2010, largely in Western Europe.

Also on Wednesday, Unilever agreed to buy Colgate's laundry detergent brands in Colombia, such as Fab, Lavomatic and Vel, for $215 million. Colgate said the deals were expected to add, on a combined basis, about 4 percent to earnings in 2011.

Colgate chairman and chief executive Ian Cook said: "Sanex is a very strong brand that we have admired for a long time".

Unilever Plc shares were up 1 percent at 1,828 pence at 1140 GMT in a slightly firmer London stock market. (Reporting by David Jones; Editing by Dan Lalor) ($1 = 0.7054 euro)