Skip - for now - the merger between the American giant Kraft-Heinz and Unilever. The Anglo-Dutch group has in fact rejected the merger offer presented by the totem of the US food industry, which had come to offer 143 billion dollars (134 billion euros), a figure that Unilever, another food giant (it owns dozens of important brands in the field of food, beverages, hygiene and household products, and in 2015 took over the Italian Grom), considered "underestimated".
"Even though Unilever has declined the offer, we continue to work towards an agreement on the terms of a transaction," Kraft said. confident of being able to complete the operation, in a note released by the London Stock Exchange, where Unilever is listed. On the London Stock Exchange in mid-afternoon, Unilever shares gained 12% to £3,749.50 per share. Kraft-Heinz also rose on Wall Street, where it gained almost 7% at the opening session to 93.35 dollars per share.
The merger offer, amounting to 134 billion euros, would have been on paper the third largest in history. In the same agro-food sector, another record-breaking operation closed last year, the one that saw the marriage between SABMiller and AB Inbev, for a value of approximately 120 billion dollars. The combined turnover of Kraft-Heinz and Unilever reaches 77,6 billion euros: almost 25 that of the Americans, around 52,7 that of the European group.
