Unilever Finalizes Shift to a Single, U.K.-Based Company
LONDON – It’s official. Unilever has become a single company headquartered in Britain and trading under the name Unilever plc.
On Monday, the beauty-to-food giant said the unification of its its group legal structure under a single parent, Unilever plc, was complete.
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From Nov. 30, and for the first time in its history, Unilever will be trading with one market capitalization, class of shares and global pool of liquidity, while also maintaining its existing listings on the Amsterdam, London and New York stock exchanges.
Nils Andersen, chairman of Unilever, said it was an important day for Unilever, “and we would like to thank our shareholders for their strong support of our unification proposals, which give us greater flexibility for strategic portfolio change, remove complexity and further improve governance.”
The company pointed out there would be no change to the operations, locations, activities or staffing levels in either the Netherlands, where its second legal headquarters was until last week, or the U.K. as a result of the unification.
The headquarters of Unilever’s Foods & Refreshment Division will continue to be based in Rotterdam and the Home Care and Beauty & Personal Care Divisions will continue to be headquartered in the U.K., the company said.
Unilever had been owned through two separately listed companies, a Dutch NV and a UK plc, since its formation in 1930. The corporate giant had always argued that both companies operated “as nearly as practicable as a single economic entity.”
Dealings in new Unilever plc shares begin Monday on the London Stock Exchange, Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange.
New Unilever plc shares will be admitted to the Premium Listing segment of the Official List of the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority and to trading on the London Stock Exchange’s main market for listed securities with the ticker “ULVR” on Monday morning.
Unilever plc shares will also be admitted to listing and to trading on Euronext in Amsterdam, a regulated market of Euronext Amsterdam N.V., under the ticker “UNA” this morning. It is expected that Unilever plc shares will be admitted to trading on the New York Stock Exchange later on Monday.
The company said that Unilever NV, the Netherlands arm of the company, ceased to exist on Sunday, Nov. 29, as a result of which there have been no dealings, and will be no further dealings, in any Unilever NV securities since that date.
The company said the total number of shares with exercisable voting rights in Unilever plc is 2,627,860,535.
In June, Unilever said it was simplifying its legal structure in order to create “a simpler company with greater strategic flexibility that is better positioned for future success.”
It said that after a “comprehensive review” which began in 2019, the board continues to believe that moving from the dual-headed legal structure to a single parent company will bring significant benefits.
