{"id":182077,"date":"2025-12-09T01:38:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T01:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/182077\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T01:38:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T01:38:09","slug":"magnums-9-1-billion-ice-cream-listing-leaves-some-investors-cold-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/182077\/","title":{"rendered":"Magnum\u2019s $9.1 billion ice cream listing leaves some investors cold \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Magnum Ice Cream Company listed on Monday with a valuation of some \u20ac7.8 billion, below analyst expectations, with some investors unsure its \u200dsugar-heavy product can succeed as consumers grow more health-conscious.<\/p>\n

The firm, now the world\u2019s largest stand-alone ice cream business, saw its debut in Amsterdam weighed down by index funds exiting after the long-awaited spin-off from parent Unilever<\/a>. The stock was \u200dlargely flat at about \u20ac12.8 a share.<\/p>\n

Magnum\u2019s listing is a test of its ability to lure consumers to indulgent snacks such as its Cornetto cones and Ben & Jerry\u2019s ice creams at a time when GLP-1 weight-loss drugs have shaken up consumer trends and the Trump administration is pushing a \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d campaign in the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sentiment is that people are focusing on healthier lifestyles,\u201d said Jack Martin, investment director at Unilever shareholder Oberon Investments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere \u200care regulatory headwinds against unhealthy foods because of the burden it places on healthcare systems, and GLP-1s are a potential headwind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Magnum\u2019s stock recovered slightly from a sluggish opening to settle just \u2060above the reference price set on Friday, which valued the company at roughly eight times its expected 2025 adjusted ebitda, according to research firm Morningstar.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the publication \u200cof \u200bMagnum\u2019s \u200dprospectus, Barclays analysts predicted it would fetch an equity value of \u20ac10.1 billion to \u20ac10.8 billion and a share price above \u20ac20 per share.<\/p>\n

Magnum rival Froneri, a joint venture between PAI Partners and Nestl\u00e9, secured investment in October valuing the firm at \u20ac15 billion. Magnum says it commands about 21 per cent of the $87 billion global ice cream market, ahead of Froneri\u2019s 11 per cent.<\/p>\n

Limited demand may have impacted the reference price, investment bank Degroof Petercam said in \u2060a note, while substantial separation costs from Unilever and the fact there will be no dividend in 2026 could be adding short-term pressure.<\/p>\n

Unilever is shedding a business unit whose cold supply chain demands more complex operations than its other food brands and personal care products such as Dove soap and Axe deodorant.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ben & Jerry\u2019s co-founder quits over Unilever \u2018silencing\u2019 of social missionOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Magnum chief executive Peter ter Kulve, who wielded a replica Magnum ice cream the size of a tennis racquet at Monday\u2019s bell-ringing ceremony, said the company would be \u201cmore agile, more focused and more ambitious than ever\u201d as an independent listed company.<\/p>\n

There is hope that Magnum, with a strong brand and market position, can perform better outside Unilever, said Chris Beckett, consumer staples analyst at Quilter Cheviot, although a sugar-heavy product that is often weather-dependent for sales meant a more volatile mix than some peers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be some natural selling before we see a more stable shareholder base, as everyone who now owns Magnum shares had no choice in the matter as existing Unilever holders,\u201d said Beckett.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor \u200cnow, it is a bit of a \u2018show \u200cme\u2019 story, and the management team will have some work to do.\u201d \u2013 Reuters<\/p>\n

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Magnum Ice Cream Company listed on Monday with a valuation of some \u20ac7.8 billion, below analyst expectations,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,61,60,22358],"class_list":["post-182077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-unilever"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}