Unilever has disclosed its plans to cut about 1,500 management jobs in an overhaul intended to address shareholders’ concerns after a failed takeover bid and news that an activist investor had built a stake in the consumer goods giant.
The maker of Magnum ice cream, which employs about 149,000 people around the world, is going to shape its business into five new divisions: beauty and wellbeing, personal care, home care, nutrition, and ice cream.
CEO Alan Jope said that the new organizational model has been developed over the last year… Moving to five category-focused business groups will enable us to be more responsive to consumer and channel trends, with crystal-clear accountability for delivery.
Unilever, whose shares have fallen about 13% over the past year, effectively abandoned plans to buy GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer healthcare business for 50 billion pounds ($67 billion). The announcement also comes days after reports that activist investor Nelson Peltz’s Trian Partners had been building a stake in the world’s second-biggest personal care products maker.