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Unilever’s ice cream business has said Ben & Jerry’s chair Anuradha Mittal “no longer meets the criteria” to serve in her role, in an escalation of a long-running spat between the consumer goods group and one of its premier brands.
The Magnum Ice Cream Company disclosed the findings, which came out of an investigation it commissioned, in filings made with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday ahead of its €15bn spin-off.
The company did not disclose why its investigation, which was carried out by external advisers, deemed that Mittal should no longer serve on the board. Mittal, the founder and executive director of the Oakland Institute think-tank, has been with Ben & Jerry’s since 2007.
The Magnum Ice Cream Company, which also owns Wall’s and Calippo, is scheduled to begin trading on the Amsterdam stock exchange on December 8.
But the demerger has been overshadowed by an escalating dispute between Ben & Jerry’s, a brand that has long campaigned on social and political issues, and its parent Unilever, which acquired the brand in 2000.
Ben & Jerry’s filed a legal complaint last year alleging that Unilever had threatened to dismantle its independent board and breached an agreement to allow it to pursue its own “social mission”. The brand alleged its London-listed owner prevented it from calling for a ceasefire in Gaza or voicing support for refugees.
Jerry Greenfield, Ben & Jerry’s co-founder, left the business in September in protest against its loss of independence under Unilever.
The Magnum Ice Cream Company said in this week’s filing that it had “taken a proactive approach to finding common ground” with the Ben & Jerry’s board.
The company added that it had informed Ben & Jerry’s of the outcome of its investigation into its chair and would “consider its options” depending on the response it received. Ben & Jerry’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It said that while the feud with Ben & Jerry’s was not expected to have a material impact on its operations, there was “an ongoing risk” that the brand’s statements and actions could have an impact on its reputation, with the possibility of consumer boycotts and “investor claims”.
Unilever had planned to hive off its ice cream division in an Amsterdam listing in November, but has been forced to delay its plans because of the US government shutdown.
The SEC has furloughed most of its staff, meaning it has been unable to carry out tasks including the review and approval of initial public offerings. The ice cream business will have secondary listings in London and New York.
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