While the owner of Marmite, Dove and Ben & Jerry’s said the ice-cream business would also have secondary listings in London and New York, it will be incorporated, headquartered and have its primary listing in the Netherlands.
He said choosing the Netherlands as its primary listing was about saving costs for shareholders as the ice-cream business already had its main headquarters, manufacturing base and brand IP based there, adding: “We are very committed to the success of the UK and will invest significantly in the next couple of years.”.
Schumacher said the UK government’s decision last year to indefinitely postpone plans to put “not for EU” labels on meat and dairy products sold across Britain had protected jobs at its ice-cream factory in Gloucester.
It comes after companies such as the Paddy Power owner, Flutter, and the travel company Tui announced plans to switch their primary listings from London to rival hubs such as New York and Frankfurt last year.
“This decision follows a full review by the board of separation options, focused on maximising returns for shareholders, setting the ice-cream business up for success and execution certainty by the end of 2025,” Unilever said in a statement on Thursday.
