HOW BONO OFFERED TO PEN A SONG TO BLOCK UNILEVER TAKEOVER

WHEN Unilever faced a £107bn takeover from US rival Kraft, boss Paul Polman received an unusual offer of help from U2 frontman Bono.

The rock legend offered to write a song so that the consumer giant – which makes Marmite, Dove and Hellman’s – could fend off the bid.

Yesterday Polman revealed how many had rallied behind him to fight off the American firm. He said: ‘You would have had Bono write a song. We didn’t have to ask for that — he was ready to.

‘You have the NGO (non-governmental organisation) community that we work with – there would have been a public outcry. The unions, the pension funds – there’s a whole group of multiple stakeholders that we serve.’

It is not known why Bono offered to intervene, or whether he is a Unilever shareholder. However, he is a campaigner on environmental issues – as is Polman. And they both attend the World Economic Forum in Davos where Bono has been a guest speaker.