Anglo-Dutch food to detergents group Unilever is to unify its group structure into a single parent company based in London, the company said on Thursday.

The move will create ‘a simpler company with greater strategic flexibility, that is better positioned for future success’, the company said in a statement.

The decision comes after an 18 month review and the board ‘continues to believe that moving from the current dual-headed legal structure to a single parent company will bring significant benefits’.

Economic affairs minister Erik Wiebes, who said he was aware that the change was coming, described the move as an ‘understandable, but regrettable’ decision.

The decision comes 18 months after Unilever dropped plans to consolidate its headquarter operations in Rotterdam following pressure from several large investors in the UK.

At the time, the decision had considerable political impact, particularly the government’s decision to scrap the tax on dividends which was seen as a sweetener to keep the company in the Netherlands. The plan was eventually put on ice.

No change

Unilever says the proposed changes do not impact the underlying economic interests of any shareholder that the board expects Unilever to retain its listings on both the Amsterdam and London stock exchanges.

‘There will be no change to the operations, locations, activities or staffing levels in either the United Kingdom or the Netherlands as a result of unification,’ the statement said.

‘The headquarters of Unilever’s Foods & Refreshment division, which was created in 2018, and is around 40% of Unilever by turnover, will continue to be based in Rotterdam, along with the €85 million Research & Development centre in Wageningen, which opened in 2019.’

However, the press release does point out that ‘no dividend withholding tax will be required to be deducted from dividends paid by Unilever PLC.’

Since it was founded in 1930, the Anglo-Dutch soups-to-soaps giant has maintained two separate headquarters – in London and in Rotterdam – as well as dual bourse listings and dual fiscal entities. But Unilever has always operated as a single business with a single board of directors.