The Unilever Dilemma: What Comes Now?

Following Kraft Heinz’s $143 billion bid for Unilever, Seeking Alpha took a look at the latter company’s decision to publicly decline a merger with Kraft Heinz. Unilever expressed concerns about Kraft Heinz’s propensity for over-selling on low prices and their lack of long-term vision for branding. Another issue posed by the company is Kraft Heinz’s lack of ability to manage home and personal-care brands the way that Unilever does.

In search of an expert perspective, Seeking Alpha interviewed Vivaldi CEO and Founder Erich Joachimsthaler, who commented, “If I was Unilever, I would fight this with hand and fist. It would crush everything we celebrate about Unilever.” Unilever has decided to maintain its current status and leverage the rumors and public discourse about the merger to help build their brand. In fact, Unilever’s stock has jumped up 13% since discussions of the merger have been public.