Unilever completes ice cream demerger with Magnum set to list

LONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The Magnum Ice Cream Company is set to finalise its long-awaited spinoff from Unilever on Monday with an Amsterdam listing that will test investors' sweet tooth.

Unilever is shedding a business unit whose cold supply chain offered few synergies with other food brands in its portfolio, let alone Dove soap and Axe deodorant, while Magnum is counting on a pure focus on ice cream to unlock dormant productivity benefits.

Unilever on Monday said it had completed the demerger on December 6 and expected to announce the share consolidation ration later in the day.

Magnum, now the world's largest standalone ice cream business and home to brands including Wall's, Ben & Jerry's and Cornetto, said it had received admission to list on Amsterdam's Euronext, the London Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange.

Magnum CEO Peter ter Kulve said that the company hit a "proud milestone" on Monday and would be "more agile, more focused, and more ambitious than ever" as an independent listed company.

(Reporting by Alexander Marrow and Dimitri Rhodes; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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