Unilever aims to go Dutch by Christmas

Unilever said it expects to complete simplification of its dual Anglo-Dutch corporate structure in December, if shareholders approve the deal.

The consumer goods colossus on Tuesday published the prospectus for its proposed move to a single Netherland-registered holding company, New Unilever NV.

With the process requiring shareholder approval for the Dutch NV and UK Plc, the meetings and votes will take place in Rotterdam on Thursday, 25 October and in London on Friday, 26 October.

The expected last day of trading will be Friday, 21 December with simplification expected to complete over the weekend of 22 and 23 December, with dealings in New Unilever NV shares beginning on Christmas Eve.

The Plc meeting is the more likely to be a close-run thing, given Unilever's warning that it is "extremely unlikely" to be eligible for inclusion in the FTSE UK index series and so will drop out of the FTSE 100 if the move to the Dutch holding company goes ahead.

"Unilever's rationale for simplification relates to greater flexibility for strategic portfolio change, to strengthen corporate governance and to help drive long-term performance," observed broker Liberum, but said the Plc meeting was likely to be the "most contentious" of the two.

"Unilever has complexity with respect to equity-settled acquisitions and demergers in its current form. This new structure would give Unilever greater flexibility to do such deals if it would like, though it does not plan any major portfolio change. There are risks in this transaction, for example Unilever may be required to make a mandatory takeover offer of Hindustan Unilever Limited if it cannot receive its exemption from the Securities and Exchange Board of India."