Unilever plans to cut thousands of jobs as activist investor Peltz builds stake - Bloomberg

• Unilever CEO Jope faces rising pressure to boost share performance

• The yet to announce move followed failed buyout bids for GSK’s healthcare business

Unilever Plc (NYSE: UL) is planning to slash thousands of management positions across its operation to speed up decision-making as activist investor Nelson Peltz built a stake in the British multinational consumer-goods giant, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. 

The company, which employs about 150,000 globally, is looking to cut jobs of numerous regional and divisional roles, to which the sources told Bloomberg that the number would be in the low thousands and could be announced as soon as this week.

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Peltz’s hedge fund, Trian Fund Management, has amassed a holding in the consumer-goods giant over the past few months, the report said, however, the exact size is not known.

Moreover, Peltz’s stake is building pressure on Unilever’s Chief Executive Officer Alan Jope to accelerate a revamp, as the innovation of the Dove soap maker has slowed.

Unilever rose about 7.3% in London, the biggest intraday gain in more than 18 months, on optimism of significant changes.

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Trian has a history of shaking up consumer companies, including PepsiCo Inc (NASDAQ: PEP), Danone SA, Kraft Foods and others.

In August, Peltz stepped down from Procter & Gamble Co’s (NYSE: PG) board after nearly four years that brought several changes to the consumer-goods giant’s performance.

Unilever-GSK saga

Last week, Unilever abandoned its acquisition pursuit of GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s (NYSE: GSK) consumer healthcare business after the UK-based drugmaker rejected its offer for being undervalued.

GSK said that the Dove soap maker had made three separate bids ever since it planned to spin off the unit, the last one being the 50 billion pounds ($68.4 billion) for the consumer product business, sent on December 20.

Later, Unilever said it would not raise the bid-offer after reports emerged that analysts were expecting that a bid of over 60 billion pounds could win the backing of GSK’s board.

Picture Credit: Unilever