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Unilever's decision to move headquarters to Rotterdam exposes the UK’s weak takeover laws says Usdaw

Date: 15 March 2018 Unilever has today confirmed their decision to move headquarters to Rotterdam. Usdaw believes this further highlights the inadequacy of UK takeover laws in protecting valued businesses.
Usdaw understands that a factor in the decision to move to Rotterdam is the additional protection Dutch law provides in hostile takeover situations. This includes the need for wider workforce and social interests to be taken into account during a takeover, rather than just the interests of shareholders.
 
Daniel Adams - Usdaw National Officer says: “Having resisted the predatory takeover by Kraft-Heinz last year, it appears that a knock on effect is the Unilever’s announcement today.  This highlights the inadequacy of UK takeover laws that focus on narrow financial concerns rather than the wider societal impact for employees and consumers.  This puts decent employers at a significant disadvantage when trying to resist such takeovers.
 
“Usdaw has already been in contact with Unilever to seek assurances on UK jobs and we recognise that Unilever have confirmed that levels of UK employment within the business will be unaffected by the announcement.  Nevertheless, it remains incredibly disappointing that Unilever has felt it necessary to move its primary base to the Netherlands to achieve some of the legal protections they require.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 430,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 28% over the decade. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion
 

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