Ben & Jerry’s maker Magnum Ice Cream debuts on Amsterdam stock market

Magnum Ice Cream Company, now the world’s largest independent ice cream business, began trading on the Amsterdam stock exchange on Monday.

The stock opened at 12.20 euros, slightly below the reference share price of 12.80 euros.. Secondary listings are also taking place in London and New York.

“As part of the Unilever family, we have become the world leader in ice cream,” CEO Peter ter Kulve said ahead of the launch on Monday. “Now as an independent company, we will be more agile, more focused and more assertive than ever before.”

Unilever first announced plans to close its ice cream unit, which includes Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum, in March last year.

“The reason Unilever decided to spin off Magnum was actually because they couldn’t focus on it,” RBC’s James Edwardes Jones told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”

“They don’t have the bandwidth to really push their personal care strategy while also hosting Magnum. And as a result, the idea in taking Magnum public is that they have private management that can focus on costs, capital expenditures, etc., that can really focus 100% on the ice cream business.”

The consumer goods giant has faced pressure from investors to overhaul its growing business. The ice cream division, which generated revenues of 7.9 billion euros ($9.2 billion) in 2023, will perform better as a standalone business.

In September, Magum set a target of increasing its revenue by 3% to 5% in the medium term from 2026.

“It has a strong emerging market angle and has a leading market share in its sector with some very strong brands,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould. “On the positive side, you have commodity exposure, you have management issue, which is a big challenge with Ben & Jerry’s, and you have a business that is largely weather-related,” he told CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition” on Monday.

“There are also suspicions that, given that it is likely to be run for cash and is a fairly capital-intensive business, quite significant investments may also need to be made going forward.”

The consumer staples category is expected to face challenges due to health-conscious consumers and the booming weight-loss drug business led by Novo Nordisk. Eli Lilly. Magnum suggests that these factors could cost the company about half a percentage point of lost revenue annually, Mold said, adding that management could develop new formats to counter this trend.

A series of public disagreements with Ben & Jerry’s founders threatened to overshadow the spinoff.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Magnum CEO Peter ter Kulve called on Ben & Jerry’s co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield to “pass it on to the next generation”. Cohen responded by accusing Magnum of trying to silence the brand’s social mission. He has previously called on Unilever to “release” Ben and Jerry’s.

— CNBC’s Matthew Ward-Perkins contributed to this report.