United Kingdom · Company filings
How Unilever moved from two parents to one UK company
Unilever combined its Dutch and UK parent companies on 29 November 2020. Unilever PLC survived the cross-border merger, and the Dutch parent, Unilever NV, ceased to exist.
Sources checked
- 12 October 2020UK shareholder approvals
Unilever reported that PLC shareholders passed the resolutions needed for unification. Source 1
- 29 November 2020Cross-border merger takes effect
Unilever NV ceased to exist. Unilever PLC became the single parent. Source 2
- 30 November 2020New PLC securities start dealing
Unilever reported admission and dealing in new ordinary shares and American depositary shares. Source 2
- 30 November 2020Voting rights count published
The company reported 2,627,860,535 shares with exercisable voting rights. Source 2
Shareholder approval came in October. The legal merger took effect on 29 November 2020.
Unification changed the parent-company structure
The cross-border merger combined Unilever NV and Unilever PLC under the existing PLC. Unilever announced that the NV entity ceased to exist on 29 November and that dealing in its securities ended. Source 2
Shareholders voted before the legal change
The UK meeting results reported 99.45% of votes cast for the special resolution to approve and implement the merger. The reported proportion uses votes cast. The notice lists withheld votes separately. Source 1
A single parent still used multiple securities markets
Unilever’s completion announcement lists new PLC shares and depositary shares. A company’s legal identity and the markets in which its securities trade are separate pieces of the record. Source 2
Issued shares and voting rights used different denominators
Unilever reported that some shares held by companies in the group had voting rights that could not be exercised. Its completion notice therefore supplied a separate total for exercisable voting rights, which it used for the disclosure denominator at the time. Source 2