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RLAM against forced divestment of Unilever under single listing

Published  03 October 2018
   3 min read

Commenting on Unilever’s upcoming vote to create a single listing and headquarters for the business, Mike Fox, Head of Sustainable Investments at Royal London Asset Management, said:

"Many UK Unilever shareholders voting for the upcoming resolution are effectively voting for forced divestment of their holding. Unilever might be able to convince European shareholders that the move makes sense for the company and for them as investors in the long term, but it’s hard for a UK investor to see an incentive to vote in favour. We think that Unilever is a high quality company, both in its own right and as a key constituent of a number of UK indices and have therefore decided to vote against the upcoming resolution.

Should the motion succeed, we would be forced to sell our holdings in Unilever plc across a number of our funds, something we do not believe would be in the interests of our clients."

 RLAM holds 8.56m shares in Unilever, 0.72% of the company worth approximately £360m

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For further information please contact:

Margherita Orlandini, Corporate PR Manager

About Royal London Asset Management (RLAM):

Established in 1988, Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) is one of the UK's leading fund management companies, providing investment management solutions to both wholesale and institutional clients such as not-for-profit organisations, local authorities and the insurance sector.

RLAM manages £117 billion of assets and employs 89 investment professionals. It invests in all major asset classes including UK and overseas equities, government bonds, investment grade and high yield corporate bonds, property and cash.

For professional clients only, not suitable for retail investors.

Issued September 2018 by Royal London Asset Management Limited, registered in England and Wales number 2244297; authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered Office: 55 Gracechurch Street, London, EC3V 0RL.

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