Unilever plans an ice-cream spinoff

Unilever will de-merge its ice-cream division as part of plans to save approximately €800 million over the next three years.

The Anglo-Dutch whose brands include Marmite, Dove and Domestos bleach, also intends to dismiss 7,500 of the 128,000 people it employs worldwide, although staff will be consulted about the reductions beforehand.

Cutbacks will affect office staff at Unilever’s London headquarters as well as employees in other countries, said chief executive Hein Schumacher who took over from Alan Jope in 2023.

The company produces five of the world’s 10 best-selling ice-cream brands which include Wall’s, Magnum, Ben & Jerry’s and Carte d’Or as well as the popular US make Breyers.

Industry sources believe that a spinoff of Unilever’s ice cream division, whose annual revenues of €7.9 billion account for 16 per cent of the group’s sales, was the most likely result of Unilever’s future plans.

The demerger is expected to be completed by the end of 2025, insiders said.

Schumacher avoided revealing where the subsequent ice-cream business, currently run from Rotterdam, would be listed.

All options were being considered, the chief executive said.  “But this doesn’t mean that ice-cream will be a Dutch company or a UK company,” he added.