Unilever set to switch to one corporate and legal London HQ by November
Unless “exit law” proposed by the Green Left Political Party sails through, Unilever will complete its switch to one corporate and legal headquarters by November 2020.
Unilever has said the move to end its Anglo-Dutch structure and establish a single headquarters in London is set to complete in November.
The consumer goods giant announced it will hold an extraordinary general meeting on September 21 for investors in the Netherlands to vote on the plan, while UK-based Unilever plc shareholder meetings will take place on October 12.
The announcement was made in June, less than two years after it was forced into a U-turn on a previous proposal to switch its headquarter from London to Rotterdam in 2018 following widespread shareholder anger.
Unilever said in a recent filing that a plan to unify its headquarters in London and scrap its Dutch base might be stalled if an “exit tax” in the Netherlands is enacted. The law, if passed, would mean it needs to pay 11 billion euros ($12.94 billion) to the Dutch government.
With London becoming both legal and corporate headquarters the age old dual Anglo-Dutch structure put in place since 1930 will become a thing of the past. This move will also see the firm’s primary stock market listed in London while secondary listing will be in the Netherlands and the US.
Unilever operations in UK and Netherlands are split into three with home care and beauty and personal care divisions employing about 6,000 people in the UK while food and refreshment arm with about 2,500 employees is located in the Netherlands.
It will be recalled the botched initial plan to move the headquarters caused the consumer foods company a former group’s former chief executive, Paul Polman, and previous chairman, Marijn Dekkers.
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