Unilever Plc is weighing the sale of a portfolio of US ice cream manufacturers that could possibly be valued at as a lot as $3 billion, folks acquainted with the matter stated.
The UK client big is working with advisers to evaluation native manufacturers similar to Klondike and Breyers which may be thought of for divestment, in keeping with the folks. Worldwide labels Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s will not be a part of the evaluation, they stated, asking to not be recognized discussing confidential data.
Deliberations are ongoing and Unilever should still determine towards promoting, the folks stated. A consultant for Unilever declined to remark.
London-listed Unilever is the world’s largest ice cream maker. However the firm’s Chief Govt Officer Alan Jope has been underneath stress to show the sugary deal with can proceed to thrive inside an organization that’s specializing in enhancing the dietary worth of its merchandise.
Jope plans to retire on the finish of subsequent yr following a tumultuous interval by which Unilever botched a £50 billion ($61 billion) try to purchase GSK Plc’s client well being unit and irked buyers with lackluster development. Activist investor Nelson Peltz revealed a stake in Unilever earlier this yr, piling additional stress on the corporate to speed up a revamp.
On an investor day on Thursday, the outgoing boss dominated out transformative M&A and raised the prospect of smaller disposals. Talking of manufacturers with revenues beneath 1 billion euros ($1 billion), he stated:
“In some circumstances we’ll prune them from the portfolio the place that is smart. Others, might play a task in an essential native portfolio,” he stated.
Nice tuning
Jope has beforehand indicated that Unilever will look to divest sure underperforming companies, however has dominated out a sale of the Vermont-based Ben & Jerry’s flagship — fashionable for quirkily-named flavors together with Chunky Monkey and Cherry Garcia.
Unilever’s native ice cream manufacturers are sometimes produced on the similar websites as its worldwide ones, probably complicating a gross sales course of. Any partial disposal would additionally depart Jope’s eventual successor with a choice of whether or not to stay with the rest of the ice cream enterprise.
Ben & Jerry’s brought on some issues for Unilever earlier this yr, when the ice cream maker’s unbiased board criticized its dad or mum firm’s choice to permit gross sales underneath the model in West Financial institution settlements by way of a 3rd occasion.
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