The value of Marmite
On Friday 17th February 2017, anyone following the business news will almost certainly have been excited to hear of Kraft-Heinz staggering $143billion (£115billion) bid for Unilever. When the news was announced, shares in Unilever rocketed by 13%.
Unilever, a multi national (British Dutch) consumer goods company, own such well known brands as: Marmite, Ben & Jerry’s, Knorr, Radox, Magnum and Hellmans. Kraft-Heinz own such brands as . . . well Kraft and Heinz. A Kraft-Heinz takeover of Unilever would clearly be historic and provide Kraft-Heinz not only with a larger share of their existing markets, but also the opportunity to diversify into some of the other markets in which Unilever has products.
Unfortunately however, the bid made by Kraft-Heinz (which was 18% higher per share than Unilever’s closing share price the preceding day) was rejected by Unilever on Monday. Unilever has since released a statement to advise that Kraft-Heinz offer had "no merit, either financial or strategic". Many are now wondering what circumstances surround this and quite why the bid was made. Some speculate that Warren Buffet, who is a major shareholder in Kraft-Heinz, is simply a big fan of Marmite, and others that there is more to the offer than is readily apparent. Unfortunately, it seems we are unlikely to find out.
Oliver Gray
Trainee Solicitor - Commercial
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| Oliver Gray - Trainee Solicitor Commercial Department |
Oliver Gray is a Trainee Solicitor
who works in the Commercial
Department dealing with all areas
of commercial work including
contentious and
non contentious work.
He is based at the firms
Marlborough office.
