Unilever confident of shareholders’ backing to go Dutch
The plan by the Anglo-Dutch company to reform a dual-headed structure has become a hot topic in pre-Brexit Britain
London — Unilever executives remain confident that shareholders will back a move to base a new single headquarters in the Netherlands as they launched a charm offensive on Tuesday to win over opponents. The plan by the Anglo-Dutch company to reform a dual-headed structure has become a hot topic in Britain where it has become entangled in the debate over Brexit and its impact on business. Two main practical concerns are around the forced selling of Unilever shares by some British investors because Unilever will drop out of the benchmark FTSE 100 index, and the future tax treatment of Dutch dividends. A month before shareholders vote on the move, four top-20 investors have voiced concern or disapproval. Together, they control about 5.5% of the British entity’s shares, according to Thomson Reuters data. In a co-ordinated media offensive, chair Marijn Dekkers wrote an opinion piece in the Daily Telegraph, while CFO Graeme Pitkethly talked up the proposal on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme...
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