Unilever has been told to choose a dual listing in London and New York for its £13billion ice-cream business.
Analysts at Barclays said this would ‘be the best balance’ to minimise a big sell-off from investors and to maximise a new company’s valuation.
A US-only listing could see some UK and European investors forced to sell, the note added. Around 70 per cent of the consumer giant’s shareholders are based in the US or UK.
Barclays reckons a venue will be announced by the end of March.
Unilever is considering a dual or even triple listing amid a fierce battle between Amsterdam, London and New York for the division, whose brands include Magnum.
Chief executive Hein Schumacher said in November the group was ‘on track’ with demerging the unit.
Rachel Reeves first met with Unilever’s Dutch boss in September to advocate for the London bourse.
The outcome of the listing will be a major test for the Chancellor, who has promised to revitalise the Stock Exchange.
But the Dutch are confident that they can win the highly sought-after listing after assurances Unilever gave the government in 2020 when it picked the UK as its official base.
This would rub salt in the City’s wounds as it suffers an exodus of companies to markets elsewhere. Unilever shares edged up 0.1 per cent, or 5p, to 4637p.
With Donald Trump’s tariffs raising fears of a damaging global trade war, the FTSE 100 slipped 1 per cent, or 90.4 points, to 8583.56 and the FTSE 250 lost 1.1 per cent, or 238.72 points, to 20711.76.
Aston Martin fell 1.7 per cent, or 1.8p, to 103.7p in London as car makers around the world tumbled.
Also on the slide was GKN Automotive owner Dowlais, which makes drive systems.
Shares dipped 4.3 per cent, or 3.1p, to 68.9p leaving them well below the 85.2p a share offered by Detroit-based manufacturer American Axle & Manufacturing.
The board of the British firm last week backed the £1.2bn offer from its US rival – setting it up to be the latest London-listed company to fall into foreign hands.
The fact that the shares are trading so far below the offer price suggests some investors have doubts over whether the deal will go through.
The proposed deal comes six years after Melrose (down 0.03 per cent, or 0.2p, to 613p) bought the British engineering giant for £8billion.
BT shares gained 1.2 per cent, or 1.65p, to 143.55p as bosses prepare to meet top investor Sunil Bharti Mittal.
Executives and senior managers will hold talks with the Indian billionaire over two days this week to discuss the company’s strategy.
Mittal bought a near-25 per cent stake in the telecoms giant last year from French billionaire Patrick Drahi to become the firm’s biggest shareholder.
The talks suggest he will take a hands-on approach as BT cuts costs under chief executive Allison Kirkby, who took over in February last year and has outlined plans to axe as many as 55,000 jobs.
Stock Watch – Speedy Hire
Speedy Hire shares crashed to a 13-year low after it warned that profits for the year will be weaker than previously expected.
The tools hire company said it has been knocked by a slowdown in demand so far in 2025.
Speedy Hire said that positive momentum towards the end of 2024 was ‘negatively impacted by the widely reported economic downturn’.
Shares fell 28.4 per cent, or 7.8p, to 19.7p – the lowest since early 2012.
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