Feb 5, 2022
Unilever investors want split or new chair amid rumbling discontent
Another top-20 shareholder called for the removal of the Unilever's chair, Nils Andersen, reflecting concerns that he and the board allowed chief executive Alan Jope to make increasing bids for the GSK division, a potential deal whose size and timing blindsided investors and provoked a backlash. The top-20 shareholder said a new chair should be appointed from outside the board. Hermann Soggeberg, chair of Unilever's European Works Council, said staff had been told that there are no plans for significant disposals, but that Trian's involvement was a concern for employees who fear a split or more job losses. The top-20 shareholder said Unilever should focus on improving performance at the existing business before making big portfolio changes, while a top-25 shareholder said: "One thing I worry about is selling off low-growth but cash generative businesses at depressed valuations, then buying more expensive things with more growth, because it doesn't necessarily create value." Ersen, the Danish former chief executive of shipping group Maersk and of brewer Carlsberg, was appointed chair of Unilever in 2019 after four years on the board, shortly after Jope, a veteran of the company, took over as chief executive.
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