(Reuters) – The British giant of consumer products Unilever said Thursday that his activity of iced creams, which includes in particular the Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum brands, would be split and listed in Amsterdam, London and New York.
The director general Hein Schumacher had announced in March 2024 his intention to separate from this activity as part of a cost reduction plan, including the abolition of thousands of jobs, in order to regain the confidence of investors after years of difficulties.
The Unilever Action is already listed on the same three scholarships as those where it plans to rate its activity of iced creams, which will be formed in the Netherlands and will continue to have its seat in Amsterdam, said the company.
“This decision follows a complete examination by the board of directors of separation options,” said the group.
The separation of the ice cream divison should be completed by the end of 2025 and Jean-Francois Van Boxmeer will be its president, added the group.
The Unilever Action fell by more than 5% to the London Stock Exchange.
Some analysts had said preferred a pure sale or a joint venture, or a joint rating in the United States and in the United Kingdom, in order to reduce the risk of “flow-back”, that is to say the fact of reselling actions of a foreign company with investors residing in the country concerned.
The group’s prospects, which has also published its 2024 results and announced an action buy -back program of 1.5 billion euros, have not enthusiastic the market either.
The British company is expecting a slower start to the current tax financial year due to the low-term market growth, although it provides growth in its underlying turnover in its multi-year range From 3% to 5% for all 2025.
Unilever reported an underlying growth of 4% of its annual turnover, while analysts awaited 4.1%, according to a consensus provided by the group.
“The vast productivity program that we announced in March is implemented at a sustained pace and we are ahead of our forecasts,” said Hein Schumacher in a statement.
(Written by Yadarisa Shabong in Bangalore; Diana Mandia; edited by Augustin Turpin and Blandine Hénault)
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