Unilever on Thursday mentioned the conglomerate has no intention of promoting Ben & Jerry’s — regardless of a bid by the founders of the favored ice cream model to purchase again the corporate.
Beginning July 1, Unilever’s ice cream manufacturers can be spun off and renamed the Magnum Ice Cream Firm, a nod to the division’s different in style firm. The spin-off can be listed within the Netherlands as a separate firm.
“The separation and listing of ice cream is the option that we consider maximizes shareholder value, that has not changed,” Unilever CEO Fernando Fernandez mentioned on a media name, in keeping with Bloomberg.
Ben & Jerry’s didn’t instantly reply to The Put up’s request for remark.
Ben & Jerry’s has been battling its London-based proprietor for years over its freedom to help liberal causes publicly, like protesting President Trump and the warfare in Gaza, and calling for police departments to be defunded.
In 2022, the ice cream model sued Unilever for promoting its Ben & Jerry’s enterprise in Israel to a accomplice who continued to promote the candy treats with barely completely different branding.
The businesses reached a settlement that very same 12 months, which required Unilever to respect Ben & Jerry’s impartial board.
Earlier this week, information broke that Unilever allegedly threatened to tug funding for the Ben & Jerry’s Basis, a nonprofit supporting organizations that advocate for jail reforms and undocumented youth.
Unilever demanded the inspiration undergo an expedited audit to proceed receiving funding – about $5 million annually, sources instructed Reuters.
“We have not made any threat,” Fernandez mentioned, including that audits are a legitimate type of governance and the corporate needs to know the place its cash goes.
“It is our responsibility to ensure that these funds are used properly,” he mentioned. “It has to be allocated to areas or institutions that are absolutely in line with the ones that are part of the acquisition agreement.”
In March, Ben & Jerry’s claimed Unilever fired its chief government David Stever, who began as a tour information on the model’s Waterbury, Vt., manufacturing unit, over anti-Trump activism.
The model argued the firing violated its 2000 merger settlement with Unilever.
Unilever responded that it has the authority to nominate a brand new chief government, and that it will solely make such a choice after talking with the board.
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, childhood pals from Lengthy Island, NY, based the corporate in 1978. They bought the corporate to Unilever for $326 million in 2000.
