Unilever has been grappling for decades with the question of how to unify its complex legal set-up, under which it has dual headquarters in London and Amsterdam. This unwieldy structure was a legacy of its creation in 1930, when Lever Brothers merged its detergent business with Margarine Unie of the Netherlands.
The FTSE 100 consumer goods giant now owns brands such as Ben & Jerry’s, Marmite, Domestos, Persil, Dove and Lynx.
The last time the legal structure came into focus was after the failed takeover attempt by Kraft Heinz in 2017, when then chief executive Paul Polman picked Amsterdam as the sole legal base before abandoning the move to placate furious London-based investors.
So there was some surprise when the new management team announced last