Unilever PLC (LSE:ULVR) has left the door open to a Dutch listing of its ice cream division after announcing the separation of the business on Tuesday.
“Where eventually the listing will take place as well as its head office, that’s something that we’re going to have to determine in the next 18 months,” Bloomberg quoted Unilever’s chief executive Hein Schumacher as saying.
“We are open to options,” he added.
Earlier this year, Barclays placed a €17 billion valuation on Unilever’s ice cream portfolio, which includes Ben and Jerry’s, Magnum and Wall’s.
When Unilever simplified its Anglo-Dutch legal structure in July 2020, Unilever stated that “the Dutch government has also asked for reassurance that if Unilever should ever choose to list the Foods & Refreshment Division as an independent company, it would be incorporated and listed in The Netherlands”.
Unilever said of the request: “The Netherlands is an attractive headquarter location for business and provided it continues to be as such, Unilever is comfortable to make these commitments given the Division’s already strong Dutch presence.
A Dutch ice cream float would be yet another blow to London’s capital markets scene, which has seen dozens of small, mid and large-cap companies move elsewhere in recent years.
Most have chosen to float in the US, although insulation giant Kingspan chose to retrain its focus on its primary listing on the Euronext market in Dublin.