Great was the disappointment with then minister Eric Wiebes (VVD, Economic Affairs) when Unilever announced in 2020 to move his head office to the United Kingdom. Two years before, the Netherlands, after a bulky recruitment campaign, thought. Unilever then announced that it would simplify its dual structure by choosing one head office in Rotterdam. The food group had to come back to this, under pressure from Anglo -Saxon shareholders. As a goodbye, Wiebes was made a promise: if Unilever ever split off the nutritional activities, they would definitely end up in the Netherlands.
Five years later the time has come and this time Unilever is keeping a word, it turned out on Thursday. The ice cream division, known for brands such as Ola (including Cornetto and Magnum) and Ben & Jerry’s, is independent through an IPO and indeed gets a head office in the Netherlands. Or actually: holds The head office here, because the division has been located in the Netherlands for years, first in Rotterdam and since last fall in Amsterdam.
This, according to the ‘delighted’ cabinet on Thursday in a response, ‘regular’ consultation with Unilever writes on this. Current Minister of Economic Affairs Dirk Beljaarts (PVV) states that “an important economic activity is retained for the Netherlands” and calls the new company “a potential top 10 player within the AEX index”.
The split -off company, which has no name yet, will have a main listing on the Amsterdam stock exchange and will also be traded at the fairs in London and New York. The group could hardly go around the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, although Beljaarts’ British colleague Jonathan Reynolds reacted disappointed. “I would have liked to see that Unilever had opted for a main listing in the United Kingdom.”
According to business newspaper, the listing in the United States would Financial Times Among other things, after the activist shareholder and commissioner at Unilever, Nelson Peltz were arrested. Unilever itself keeps it a technical choice for trade fairs on which it is already listed.
In the Netherlands, 450 people work for the ice branch, a total of 18,000 worldwide. This division yielded 8.3 billion euros in turnover in 2024.
Shrink
The news about the IPO is not very surprising. Last spring Unilever already announced the ice division to want to privatize. The question was how that was going to happen. The board reported on Thursday that it had looked at, among other things, ‘options with the maximum return for shareholders’ and ‘feasibility for the end of 2025’. But before reported Financial Times That it was also attempted to find a buyer for the business unit, but that it was not successful.
That may have to do with the reason why Unilever wants to get rid of the ice creams: the logistical process around production is complex. Ice creams must be stored cooled, unlike many other food activities (such as with the Knorr brand). The production is also eligible to seasonal grilling: less ice is sold in a wet spring and summer.
Earlier, Unilever chose to focus on the thirty strongest brands that have considerable growth potential. That meant all the farewell to part of the nutrition branch, on which the company wants to save 1 billion euros. Brands such as Unox and Zwan (both to Zwanenberg Food Group) as well as Conimex (to the Finnish Paulig) were already sold last year. The vegetarian butcher would also be in the shop window.
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The IPO of the Ice Division does not go according to a traditional pattern where investors can register in advance. Shareholders of Unilever will receive as many pieces in the ice company if they already have shares in the British food group. In fact, they are compensated for the loss of this part of the turnover at the parent company. The shares can then be traded on the stock market after listing.
CEO of the ice creams becomes an old acquaintance from Dutch business: Jean-François van Boxmeer. He previously led Heineken for almost 15 years. Van Boxmeer is currently, among other things, a president of the Commissioner at the British telecom company Vodafone.
Considerably more marketing
The news about the IPO came on Thursday at the presentation of the annual figures of Unilever about 2024. They were not easy to go. Although the turnover increased by 1.9 percent to nearly 61 billion euros, the sale of products lagged behind the expectations with an increase of 4.2 percent. At 6.4 billion euros, net profit was more than 10 percent lower than in 2023.
According to CEO Hein Schumacher, the cause of the lagging sales can be found in the declining expenses by consumers. They will not put on quickly. “The market growth, which delayed in 2024, is expected to remain weak in the first half of 2025.”
Among other things, high inflation in Europe and deteriorated economic conditions in China ensured that customers previously opted for private brands over premium brands.
To win back the consumer, Unilever invested heavily in marketing. The expenditure on this increased by 900 million euros in 2024, against an increase of 600 million euros in the second half of 2023. Of each euro that was earned, 15 cents were up to marketing last year. The budget for that was not as high in the last ten years as in 2024. On Wednesday, Heineken also announced that it should have invested considerably more in campaigns to reclaim customers.
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