The ice cream division of Unilever will go to the Amsterdam stock exchange in mid-November. The division, which includes Magnum, Cornetto and Ben & Jerry’s, will then be officially spun off. Unilever announced this with its half-year figures, in which the company reported higher sales and profit.
The British food group, which also owns Knorr, Dove, Vaseline and Rexona, among others, had previously announced that it wanted to separate its ice cream division. According to Unilever, the Amsterdam IPO is on schedule for mid-November.
The division is officially called The Magnum Ice Cream Company. Unilever retains 20 percent of the shares. After Amsterdam, stock exchange listings in London and New York should follow.
The ice cream division has approximately 450 employees and achieved a turnover of 8.3 billion euros last year. Unilever wants to specialize more and is therefore splitting off the ice cream brands. It previously sold Unox, Conimex and Zwan to other companies.
Unilever has had a good first half of the year, with more sales and profit. That is why it is not adjusting its expectations for the rest of 2025. The British company wants to make 3 to 5 percent more sales before the year ends.
Price increases lead to higher than expected operating profit
In the first half of the year, Unilever achieved a turnover of more than 30 billion euros. That is 3.4 percent more than in the same period last year.
Price increases drove the growth. The operating profit of 5.8 billion euros is therefore higher than expected. Care products in particular flew off the shelves.
“In the second half of the year, we expect further acceleration in emerging markets, particularly in Asia, and continued growth in developed markets,” writes Fernando Fernandez, CEO of Unilever.