Unilever to Proceed With Unification Proposal as GroenLinks Tables Bill

By Adria Calatayud

Unilever PLC said Friday that its board intends to proceed with a plan to unify its dual British and Dutch corporate structure into a single company after Dutch green party GroenLinks tabled a bill to introduce a tax for large businesses leaving the Netherlands.

The consumer-goods giant--the maker of Hellmann's mayonnaise and Dove soap--noted that the tabling of the GroenLinks initiative bill in the Dutch Parliament.

Unilever said it will review the bill to assess any potential impact on its proposals for unification. In the board's view, unification remains in the best interests of Unilever, its shareholders and other stakeholders as a whole, the company said.

In June, Unilever said it would unify its legal structure under a single parent company based in the U.K. The proposal was approved by the company's shareholders last month.

A previous proposal to consolidate its British and Dutch legal structure in the Netherlands was withdrawn in October 2018, after the plan didn't receive support from a significant group of shareholders.

Write to Adria Calatayud at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 09, 2020 07:43 ET (11:43 GMT)

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