Unilever has gone Dutch but let’s keep it in the FTSE

WHEN Unilever was faced by a Wall Street activist’s criticism of its dual Dutch-English status, the company quickly succumbed to the pressure and ditched London.

With the stroke of a pen, a centuryold structure reflecting the dualnationality status of this British gem was consigned to the bin. Its plc base will now move to Rotterdam.

The decision will save a bit of money thanks to Holland’s low taxes and end a slightly unconventional set-up. In a world of multinational Unilever advertising, bland enough to be understood as easily in Brazil as in Britain, heaven forbid the company should not abide by global convention in its corporate structure.

In short, it’s a crying shame and a snub to London that’s hard to forgive.

However, now the decision has been taken, there’s a growing clamour for the London Stock Exchange’s FTSE division to relax its rules that will bar Unilever’s shares from the FTSE 100 index.

Negotiations between the two sides is ongoing, but as it stands, the FTSE Russell group’s shadowy advisory committee on FTSE entrants, whose members remain suspiciously anonymous, refuses to bend.

You can see why: Unilever will become a Dutch company with a primary stock market listing in Holland and inclusion on the Euro Stoxx index. Why should it be allowed to call itself part of the British FTSE 100 index?

But there’s more at stake here, namely, the very Britishness of the Footsie. Unilever’s primary stock listing may move, but it still feels far more British than, say, Glencore, the Swiss commodities trader. It will retain a London HQ and continue as a big contributor to the economy.

The investors who track the FTSE