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Boston Globe
24-04-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Ben & Jerry's ice cream is not for sale, ays Unilever CEO
Speculation about the future of Ben & Jerry's has arisen after founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield expressed interest in buying back their namesake ice cream label, after years of tension between the brand and Unilever, according to a Bloomberg News report. Advertisement Founded in 1978, Ben & Jerry's became popular with offbeat flavors like Cherry Garcia and Chubby Hubby and associated itself with progressive causes. When Unilever bought the company in 2000, an agreement established an independent board at Ben & Jerry's to protect its social values. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up However, the two have increasingly clashed over how Ben & Jerry's communicates that social mission. In 2022, Ben & Jerry's sued Unilever for blocking its attempts to stop selling ice cream in the occupied West Bank. Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Unilever was threatening to halt funding to the Ben & Jerry's Foundation, a US nonprofit that makes donations to social justice organizations. Unilever pays the foundation about $5 million annually, according to Fernandez, and it wants to know where money is being spent. Advertisement 'We have not made any threat,' he said, but added that audits form part of proper governance. 'It is our responsibility to ensure that these funds are used properly,' he said. 'It has to be allocated to areas or institutions that are absolutely in line with the ones that are part of the acquisition agreement.' Unilever on Thursday reported that sales rose more than expected in the first quarter, mostly driven by higher prices as commodity costs surge.
Boston Globe
27-02-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Ben & Jerry's founders discuss buying back ice cream brand
'As confirmed during our 2024 FY results announcement, we are on track to separate the ice cream business by way of a demerger,' a spokesperson for Unilever said in an emailed statement. 'Ben & Jerry's is an important part of the ice cream business, and it's not for sale.' Unilever shares traded down 0.7% shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday in London, mainly due to the stock trading without the right to a dividend. Advertisement A representative for Cohen and Greenfield declined to comment. Unilever has been pursuing a spinoff of its ice cream business as part of a cost-cutting drive. Chief Executive Officer Hein Schumacher, who was replaced by Chief Financial Officer Fernando Fernandez in a surprise ouster this week, had been working on splitting off the ice cream unit and improving its performance. The company is planning for the spinoff to go public primarily in Amsterdam, with secondary listings in London and New York. The US is the biggest market for Unilever's ice cream brands, which also include Breyers and Magnum. Cohen and Greenfield, who started their Burlington, Vermont-based company in 1978, agreed to sell Ben & Jerry's to Unilever in 2000 for $326 million. In addition to whimsical flavors such as Cherry Garcia, Chubby Hubby and Bohemian Raspberry, their brand became associated with progressive, social justice issues. The deal gave power over the social mission of Ben & Jerry's to an independent board, which has continued to pursue those concerns, sometimes to the consternation of Unilever. The two sides have been fighting since 2021, when Ben & Jerry's said it would halt sales in the West Bank. Unilever has since sold its ice cream unit in Israel to a local producer. Advertisement With assistance from Paul Jarvis.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ben & Jerry's Founders Discuss Buying Back Ice Cream Brand
(Bloomberg) -- The founders of Ben & Jerry's have expressed interest in buying back their namesake ice cream brand from Unilever Plc, according to people familiar with the matter. The Trump Administration Takes Aim at Transportation Research Shelters Await Billions in Federal Money for Homelessness Providers NYC's Congestion Pricing Pulls In $48.6 Million in First Month New York's Congestion Pricing Plan Faces Another Legal Showdown NYC to Shut Migrant Center in Former Hotel as Crisis Eases Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield have held some initial discussions in recent months about a potential deal, the people said. They may look to partner with socially minded investors in any transaction, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. The Ben & Jerry's business could be valued at several billion dollars in a sale, which means the founders would need deep-pocketed financial backers to make it happen, one of the people said. There's no certainty the discussions will progress and they could decide not to pursue a deal, according to the people. 'As confirmed during our 2024 FY results announcement, we are on track to separate the ice cream business by way of a demerger,' a spokesperson for Unilever said in an emailed statement. 'Ben & Jerry's is an important part of the ice cream business, and it's not for sale.' Unilever shares traded down 0.7% shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday in London, mainly due to the stock trading without the right to a dividend. A representative for Cohen and Greenfield declined to comment. Unilever has been pursuing a spinoff of its ice cream business as part of a cost-cutting drive. Chief Executive Officer Hein Schumacher, who was replaced by Chief Financial Officer Fernando Fernandez in a surprise ouster this week, had been working on splitting off the ice cream unit and improving its performance. The company is planning for the spinoff to go public primarily in Amsterdam, with secondary listings in London and New York. The US is the biggest market for Unilever's ice cream brands, which also include Breyers and Magnum. Cohen and Greenfield, who started their Burlington, Vermont-based company in 1978, agreed to sell Ben & Jerry's to Unilever in 2000 for $326 million. In addition to whimsical flavors such as Cherry Garcia, Chubby Hubby and Bohemian Raspberry, their brand became associated with progressive, social justice issues. The deal gave power over the social mission of Ben & Jerry's to an independent board, which has continued to pursue those concerns, sometimes to the consternation of Unilever. The two sides have been fighting since 2021, when Ben & Jerry's said it would halt sales in the West Bank. Unilever has since sold its ice cream unit in Israel to a local producer. --With assistance from Paul Jarvis. (Updates with share move in fifth paragraph.) Trump's SALT Tax Promise Hinges on an Obscure Loophole Warner Bros. Movie Heads Are Burning Cash, and Their Boss Is Losing Patience Walmart Wants to Be Something for Everyone in a Divided America China Learned to Embrace What the US Forgot: The Virtues of Creative Destruction Meet Seven of America's Top Personal Finance Influencers ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ben & Jerry's maker Unilever picks Amsterdam for ice cream spinoff
By Yadarisa Shabong and Richa Naidu (Reuters) -Ben & Jerry's maker Unilever has chosen Amsterdam over London and New York as the primary listing for its ice cream business, it said on Thursday after announcing full-year earnings which underwhelmed investors. Unilever, whose other brands include Hellman's mayonnaise and Dove soap, also said that it expected a slower start to 2025 due to subdued market growth in the near term. The warning led to a near 7% drop in its shares, wiping around 8.5 billion pounds off its market value. Tineke Frikkee, a portfolio manager at Waverton Investment Management, a Unilever investor, said Thursday's decline in shares was down to a lack of positive momentum for the first half of 2025 and a risk quarterly forecasts will not be met. Unilever reported fourth-quarter underlying sales growth of 4% on Thursday, compared with a 4.1% forecast by analysts in a company-compiled poll. It also forecast 2025 underlying sales growth to be within its multi-year range of 3% to 5%. Chief Executive Hein Schumacher had laid out cost cuts at the company last year, including separating the ice cream division through a demerger and cutting thousands of jobs to address years of underperformance. The ice cream business, which includes five of the world's top 10 brands including Magnum and Wall's, will have secondary listings in London and New York. It generated turnover of 8.3 billion euros ($8.6 billion) in 2024. The decision to list in Amsterdam will likely be a blow to British finance minister Rachel Reeves, who met executives from Unilever last September. The official register of meetings described it as a discussion on investment in the United Kingdom and capital markets and reforms. In the Netherlands, Dirk Beljaarts, the minister of economic affairs, said the decision by Unilever confirmed the company's "confidence in the Netherlands and underscores the competitiveness and attractiveness of our business climate". It would have been difficult for Reeves to woo Unilever given it had made commitments to the Dutch government back in 2020 that it would choose the Netherlands if it ever planned to spin off its food and refreshment business. Unilever had picked London as its main stock listing and tax venue when it simplified its dual legal structure. BEN & JERRY'S The listing might be complicated by Unilever's increasingly contentious relationship with the independent board of Ben & Jerry's, which ratcheted up a censorship lawsuit against Unilever last month. It accused its parent company of suppressing a social policy statement the U.S. ice cream maker wanted to release because it mentioned President Donald Trump. The brand and Unilever have been publicly at odds since 2021 when Ben & Jerry's decided to stop selling Cherry Garcia, Chubby Hubby and other ice cream flavours in the Israeli-occupied West Bank because it said it was inconsistent with the company's values. Schumacher said he did not believe the Ben & Jerry's litigation would stand in the way of the Amsterdam IPO. A demerger of the business had been the most likely option, Barclays analysts said, as such assets in consumer staples often perform well because they are pure plays. Consumer health firm Haleon, spun out from drugmaker GSK in 2022, has seen its market value grow by about 5 billion pounds to 35.4 billion pounds since its listing. Jean-Francois van Boxmeer has been appointed chair designate for the separated ice cream business, Unilever said. MORE WORK TO DO Britain's business minister Jonathan Reynolds told reporters that the government had more work to do to attract stock market listings in addition to reforms last year and other measures taken by the London Stock Exchange. It is still hoping to attract online fast-fashion retailer Shein, which Reuters has reported is expected to list in London for $50 billion. UK officials implemented listing reforms last year aimed at helping London compete with New York and the European Union following Brexit, but the changes have yet to yield a noticeable turnaround in initial public offerings amid a long spell of outflows from UK funds. Equipment rental firm Ashtead Group, for instance, announced plans in December to shift its listing to New York, where many companies believe they can get a higher valuation. ($1 = 0.9584 euros)
