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Unilever Is Said to Favor Dutch Headquarters Over London

Unilever Is Said to Favor Dutch Base Over U.K. in Blow to May

(Bloomberg) -- Unilever is preparing to consolidate its headquarters in the Netherlands, abandoning a U.K. base that it has maintained for nearly a century, according to people familiar with the situation.

The Anglo-Dutch consumer giant’s board was meeting on Wednesday to make a final decision to choose Rotterdam over London for its base, the people said. The move is a significant blow for U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s government as it strives to maintain investment in the country after it leaves the European Union.

The decision could be announced as soon as Thursday, one person said. It would end months of lobbying by the Dutch and U.K. governments after the maker of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Dove soap said last year it would simplify its dual-headquarters structure.

The company, formed through the 1930 merger of Margarine Unie of the Netherlands and U.K. soapmaker Lever Brothers, currently hosts two annual general meetings, employs two boards composed of the same members and operates under separate takeover regulations in each of the two countries.

Kraft Heinz

The move to a single base is intended to simplify Unilever’s operations and cut costs. The company decided to consolidate its headquarters as part of a strategic review that followed an unsolicited takeover bid from Kraft Heinz Co. last year. Dutch law affords companies more protection against unwanted takeovers than the U.K. code does.

Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte used to work at Unilever, and the company’s chief executive officer, Paul Polman, is Dutch. Rutte has proposed scrapping a dividend tax in a move that would make the country more attractive to multinationals.

Dutch takeover laws also provide more protection against hostile approaches, requiring boards to take into account the interests of workers, not just shareholders.

The U.K. Business Department declined to comment on what it described as speculation, saying the decision is a commercial matter for Unilever.

Unilever has four stock-market listings, which are expected to remain unchanged. The shares trade on the Amsterdam stock exchange and the London Stock Exchange, and the Dutch and U.K. shares also trade as American depositary receipts.

The expected move follows U.K. Chancellor Philip Hammond’s portrayal of Britain earlier this week as an attractive destination for foreign investment. Last month, information and events business RELX said it plans to simplify its corporate structure, opting for a single London-based parent company after 25 years of also having a Dutch owner.

Unilever employs about 7,500 people in the U.K. and 3,000 in the Netherlands. The vast majority of those positions won’t be affected by the move. The company has already relocated more than 100 jobs from London to Rotterdam as part of the merger of its food and refreshment units, which include Lipton tea and Knorr stock cubes.

--With assistance from Alex Morales

To contact the reporters on this story: David Hellier in London at dhellier@bloomberg.net, Thomas Buckley in London at tbuckley25@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, John J. Edwards III

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