Finance
Magnum Ice Cream says Ben & Jerry's board chair not fit to serve
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 5, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 5, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Magnum Ice Cream questions Ben & Jerry's board chair's suitability after internal investigations, amid plans to spin off from Unilever.
By Alexander Marrow
LONDON (Reuters) -The Magnum Ice Cream Company has concluded that the chair of its Ben & Jerry's brand no longer "meets the criteria" to serve as a board member after internal investigations, it said in an SEC filing, the latest twist in an ongoing internal feud.
The Magnum-led ice cream venture, which also incorporates the Wall's and Cornetto brands, is being spun off from consumer goods conglomerate Unilever in an Amsterdam listing now planned for December 8 after a delay of around one month due to the U.S. government shutdown.
"Following investigations commissioned by the Group and conducted by external advisers, in the opinion of the Group the current chair of the Ben & Jerry’s Board no longer meets the criteria to serve as a member of the Ben & Jerry’s Board," Magnum said, without giving any details as to the nature of the investigations or naming the chair.
MAGNUM WAITING FOR BEN & JERRY'S BOARD RESPONSE
Unilever and Ben & Jerry's have been at odds since at least 2021 when the Chubby Hubby ice cream maker said it would stop selling in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Ben & Jerry's has sued Unilever over alleged attempts to silence it and called the Gaza war a "genocide", highly unusual for a major U.S. brand.
Magnum said in its SEC filing published late on Tuesday that it had informed the Ben & Jerry's board of the internal investigations' results and would consider further options depending on the response it receives.
Both Magnum and Unilever declined to provide further clarity. Ben & Jerry's board chair Anuradha Mittal could not immediately be reached for comment.
Co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield sold Ben & Jerry's to Unilever in 2000, setting up an independent board to protect and defend the brand's equity and integrity. According to the original agreement, replacing most board members requires a majority vote from the board.
Reuters could not establish whether Magnum, which plans secondary listings in New York and London, would be able to remove the chair.
MAGNUM SEEKS ONE-FIFTH OF $88 BLN GLOBAL ICE CREAM MARKET
Cohen warned last month that the corporate conflict with the parent company would likely become more pronounced once the spin-off is complete, as the brand will account for a larger percentage of Magnum's business than it did under Unilever.
Unilever expects Magnum, which had revenues of 4.5 billion euros ($5.25 billion) in the first half of 2025, to command just over one-fifth of the approximately $88 billion global ice cream market and compete with rivals such as Nestle-backed Froneri.
Magnum highlighted potential risk factors once it becomes a standalone business, including the rising use of weight-loss drugs affecting consumer habits, falling ice cream demand, and volatile prices of key raw materials like cocoa and sugar.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Alexander Marrow, editing by Lisa Jucca, Conor Humphries and Mark Heinrich)
Corporate governance refers to the systems and processes that direct and control a company. It encompasses the mechanisms through which companies, and those in control, are held accountable to stakeholders.
An SEC filing is a formal submission of documents to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Companies must file these documents to disclose financial performance and other significant information to investors.
A board member is an individual who serves on a company's board of directors. They are responsible for overseeing the company's management and ensuring that it acts in the best interests of shareholders.
A spin-off is a corporate action in which a company creates a new independent company by selling or distributing new shares. This often occurs to unlock value or focus on core operations.
The global ice cream market refers to the worldwide industry involved in the production and sale of ice cream products. It encompasses various brands and flavors, with significant competition among major players.
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