2nd Nov 2020 14:06
(Alliance News) - Unilever PLC on Monday said it obtained UK High Court approval for its cross-border merger with Unilever NV.
In June, the company announced its plan to combine its dual-headed structure into one single London-based entity. Unilever, however, said it would retain its stock listings in London and Amsterdam.
Once the merger becomes effective, Unilever's existing dual-parent holding company structure will be unified and Unilever PLC will become the single parent company of the Unilever group.
On Tuesday last week, Unilever said it planned to proceeds with its unification proposals and requested UK high court approval despite Dutch exit tax concerns.
The Anglo-Dutch consumer goods company had previously warned that its planned unification under a single UK entity remained threatened by a Dutch bill that would impose an exit tax and argued the Dutch bill in its current form would infringe several tax treaties.
Dove soap maker Unilever had previously claimed that if the bill - which was tabled by Dutch opposition party GroenLinks and could result in a hefty EUR11 billion exit tax charge - was passed then the unification would not be in Unilever's best interests.
However, Unilever's legal advice suggested such a tax bill would infringe the Dutch UK Tax Treaty as well as other laws and treaties.
In 2018, the firm had tried to move its corporate base to Rotterdam from London but faced significant opposition from UK-based shareholders and eventually had to abandon the plans.
Shares in Unilever were up 1.4% at 4,467.00 pence in London on Monday afternoon.
By Anna Farley; [email protected]
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