Unilever announced on Tuesday (October 21) that the planned spinoff schedule for The Magnum Ice Cream Company has been delayed due to the U.S. federal government shutdown. Information on the revised timing will be provided as soon as possible.
The global consumer goods giant, which produces brands like Dove soap and Hellmann’s mayonnaise, stated on Tuesday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently unable to approve the registration statement required for Magnum Ice Cream Company to list on the New York Stock Exchange and conduct trading.
The spinoff, which has been in preparation since early 2024, was announced by Unilever in March 2024. The company planned to fully separate its ice cream business into an independent company named The Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC), including brands such as Magnum, Ben & Jerry’s, Carte D’Or, and Wall’s. It was anticipated to be listed this year in New York, London, and Amsterdam.
Originally scheduled to debut in Amsterdam on November 10, followed by secondary listings in New York and London, Unilever stated that the preparation for the spinoff is proceeding as planned, and they commit to completing the entire separation process by the end of 2025.
Unilever’s financial performance in the first half of the year as revealed in July showed that the group’s underlying sales growth (USG) rose by 3.4%, reaching a turnover of €30.1 billion ($34.9 billion). Unit volumes grew by 1.5%.
The ice cream business showed strong growth, with USG increasing by 5.9% to €4.6 billion, and sales growing by 3.8%. The performance of other food businesses lagged behind that of the group and the ice cream business.
At Unilever’s Capital Markets Day in September, it was projected that the ice cream business spinoff would incur €800 million in separation costs, primarily from technology aspects, with 80% to be realized by the end of 2026. Restructuring costs will account for around 0.8% of group revenue from 2025 to 2028.
Despite the delay in the timeline, Unilever confirmed that the scheduled shareholder meeting for that day will proceed as planned, with a vote on the proposed stock consolidation related to the spinoff. However, the implementation timeline for this stock consolidation will also be updated correspondingly.