Warren Buffett and 3G were apparently surprised at hostility from Unilever’s board – but PM must use this bid as cue to form proper policy on takeovers
Warren Buffett and his Brazilian private equity chums at 3G, the main players at Kraft Heinz, must process their cheese and beans on another planet. The US firm abandoned its £115bn bid for Unilever, we’re told, because it wasn’t expecting its proposal to receive such hostility from Unilever’s board and a few British and Dutch politicians. If that explanation is correct, Kraft’s crew of billionaires should get out more. Did they miss the debates that have raged over rootless global companies, asset-stripping deals and the UK’s open-doors policy on takeovers? Hostility was predictable and justified.
Unilever’s board was always likely to reject the chance to be bought by a financier-led firm in search of another target for its job-cutting formula. Unilever chief executive Paul Polman lectures the world on the importance of looking beyond the next quarter’s earnings and was not about to trade 100 years of corporate history for an uncertain ride on 3G’s debt-propelled takeover machine. A miserly initial offer, comprising a takeover premium of only 18%, will only have strengthened Unilever’s sense of indignation.
Related: How Unilever foiled Kraft Heinz's £115m takeover bid
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