Mar 14, 2017

Unilever urges changes to UK’s takeover code

Unilever has urged the UK government to take steps to safeguard national corporate champions and questioned the strength of the country's takeover code after Kraft Heinz's audacious £143bn bid for the consumer goods group last month. The maker of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry's ice cream said target companies should have more time in which to defend themselves and that takeover rules should be changed to consider the interests of stakeholders beyond shareholders. This has raised fears about some UK companies being sold on the cheap, though Unilever holds most of its assets outside the UK. Mrs May ordered senior officials to examine Kraft Heinz's proposed takeover to determine whether government intervention was necessary. Unilever pointed to the Netherlands, where the group is also listed and where takeovers are subject to a broader stakeholder interest test. The Anglo-Dutch group also said that the 28-day deadline to make a firm takeover offer, known as "Put up or shut up", gives little time for a target company to prepare its defences, whereas a potential acquirer might have spent a year or more preparing its bid.

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