Unilever PLC would be best placed spinning off its ice cream division via a new listing in both London and New York, according to Barclays analysts.
Despite speculation of an IPO in Amsterdam, joint transatlantic listings would "reduce the flow-back risk" given Unilever’s London listing and the fact 70% of investors are based in the UK and America, the bank said in a note.
“It seems to us it will be hard to keep all politicians and shareholders happy,” analysts added, pointing to likely pushback from the Dutch government.
A US listing might eventually allow a higher valuation, but could leave UK and European shareholders forced to sell, according to the bank.
London had deeper capital markets than Amsterdam, analysts said, but the analysts do not think “significant valuation difference” would be seen between the two.
“Therefore a US/UK listing makes most sense to us,” Barclays said, “albeit the thorny question remains of which venue would be the 'primary' listing”.
Unilever had flagged plans to spin-off the division last March, with Barclays noting further information was due over the coming months, including on a venue.