In addition to its listing on Euronext Amsterdam, the standalone ice cream business will have secondary listings in London and New York.
The FMCG giant first confirmed that it was separating its ice cream division, which includes brands such as Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum, from the rest of the business in May 2024.
According to Unilever, that process is still on track to be finalised by the end of this year, despite Ben & Jerry’s filing a lawsuit against its parent company in November 2024. The suit accused Unilever of silencing the ice cream maker’s attempts to advocate for Palestinians as well as its calls for a permanent and immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The standalone ice cream business will be based out of a new headquarters in Amsterdam, having completed its move from a former office in Rotterdam.
Meanwhile, Jean-Francois van Boxmeer has been appointed as chair designate for the separated ice cream business.
The former Heineken chief executive is currently the chair of Vodafone Group, and remains a non-executive director of Heineken’s Dutch holding company.
“Francois brings a wealth of experience both as a non-executive and as an executive operating within the consumer goods industry,” Unilever said.
The was announced as part of Unilever’s full-year results for 2024, with turnover rising by nearly 2% to €60.8bn.
The ice cream division in particular reported a turnover of €8.3bn, a 4.5% increase on 2023. Meanwhile, Unilever’s wider food unit grew turnover 1.1% to €13.4bn.
Commenting on the firm’s strategy for its food and drink assets moving forward, Unilever CEO Hein Schumacher said: “We continue to sharpen our portfolio, allocating capital to premium segments by acquiring scalable brands in attractive markets and announcing the divestment of local food brands such as Unox and Conimex, as we focus our Foods portfolio on cooking aids and condiments categories.”
On the ice cream demerger, Schumacher added: “The separation of ice cream remains on track and we are making good progress on the key workstreams. We announce today the appointment of the chair designate for the demerged ice cream business and details of the listing structure.”
