(Bloomberg) -- Unilever Plc kicked off a duel between London and Amsterdam for a potential €17 billion ($18.4 billion) listing of its ice cream unit, nearly four years after the Netherlands lost out to Britain for the consumer goods conglomerate’s headquarters.

While the London-listed company has not decided where the owner of the Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum brands would hold its main listing, Chief Executive Officer Hein Schumacher pointed out that the division is currently run from Rotterdam and is in the process of moving to a new head office in Amsterdam.

A Dutch listing would be a blow to London’s capital markets after a string of major companies looked to switch listings to rival financial centers, prompting UK politicians and regulators to suggest reforms to improve the City’s competitiveness. Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has held talks with fast fashion label Shein about a possible flotation, Bloomberg reported in February, after British chip-maker Arm Holdings Plc snubbed the City for New York last year.

“Where eventually the listing will take place as well as its head office, that’s something that we’re going to have to determine in the next 18 months,” Schumacher said Tuesday during a call with journalists. “We are open to options.”

Analysts at Barclays Plc touted a potential spinoff of the ice cream division earlier this year, which they said could be worth close to €17 billion.

Unilever made a botched attempt in 2018 to switch to a single legal entity in the Netherlands, having operated under a dual-leadership system for nearly 90 years. Investors in the City of London rebelled against the plan and shortly afterward Paul Polman stood down as chief executive officer. 

Unilever went ahead with plans to simplify its structure in 2020, but chose the UK as its official base. The Dutch government “asked for reassurance that if Unilever should ever choose to list the Foods & Refreshment Division as an independent company, it would be incorporated and listed in The Netherlands,” Unilever said at the time, adding that it was “comfortable to make these commitments.” In 2022, the division was split into two parts, nutrition and ice cream.

The ice cream division had sales of €7.9 billion in 2023.

‘Volatile’

The household goods giant said Tuesday that it was open to other ways of separating its ice cream division, with some analysts expecting the announcement to attract bidders, yet a listing is the most likely option. The company’s statement “suggests they were unable to find a buyer which is disappointing as they are leader in this category,” said Tineke Frikkee, head of UK equity research at Waverton Investment Management, an investor in Unilever.

Ice cream “has been quite a volatile business and has also been dilutive from a margin standpoint,” said Richard Saldanha, global equity portfolio manager at Aviva Investors, a top 10 shareholder in Unilever. “So we think strategically this makes sense.”

--With assistance from Paul Jarvis.

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