Last year, UK-based FMCG multinational, Unilever, announced it was spinning off its ice-cream business, which contains iconic brands such as Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum.
According to Unilever, running an ice-cream business was very different to running the other businesses in the company, and therefore it made sense to separate. The business also hopes that this separation will be a cost-saving exercise.
Now, the multinational is exploring listing options for the ice-cream business, which is valued at around €15bn.
One such option, reports the Financial Times, is London, where Unilever itself is currently listed.
However, the company is also reportedly considering Amsterdam and even New York. The headquarters of the ice cream division moved from Rotterdam to Amsterdam last year.
The final decision is due to be announced in March. Unilever declined to comment.
Government intervention
The news comes after the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) Rachel Reeves urged the business to stay in London.
Reeves met with Hein Schumacher, the company’s CEO, and head of UK and Ireland business Marc Woodward, back in September, reports The Times, in a bid to encourage the business to float its ice cream division in the UK.
As Unilever is the fourth largest company on the FTSE 100, the departure of its ice cream division to either Amsterdam or New York would be a blow for the UK.
If the business were to move to New York, it would be part of a growing trend of UK businesses moving there.
