Business
Ben & Jerry’s brand could be destroyed under Magnum – co-founder
Ben & Jerry’s will be destroyed as a brand if it remains with parent company Magnum, the company’s co-founder Ben Cohen has told the BBC.
His remarks are the latest in a long-running spat between the ice cream brand and its parent company over its ability to express its social activism and the continued independence of its board.
The comments came on the day that the Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC) started trading on the European stock market – spinning off from owner Unilever.
A spokesperson for Magnum said the firm wanted to build and strengthen Ben & Jerry’s “powerful, non-partisan values-based position in the world”.
Ben & Jerry’s was sold to Unilever in 2000 in a deal which allowed it to retain an independent board and the right to make decisions about its social mission.
Since the sale there have been deepening clashes between the Vermont-based brand and Unilever, with this conflict now inherited by Magnum.
In 2021, Ben & Jerry’s refused to sell its products in areas occupied by Israel, resulting in its Israeli operation being sold by Unilever to a local licensee, and in October, Ben Cohen said it was prevented from launching an ice cream which expressed “solidarity with Palestine”.
Last month, ahead of its spin off from Unilever, Magnum said the chair of Ben & Jerry’s board Anuradha Mittal, who has held the position since 2018, “no longer meets the criteria to serve” – saying this was the result of an internal audit.
A spokesperson for Magnum said it had found “a series of material deficiencies in financial controls, governance and other compliance policies, including conflicts of interest”.
“So far, the trustees have not fully addressed the deficiencies identified,” they said.
In a statement to Reuters, Ms Mittal said: “The so-called audit of the foundation was a manufactured inquiry – engineered to attempt to discredit me.
“It is important to understand that this is not simply an attack on me as chair. It is Unilever’s attempt to undermine the authority of the Board itself.”
The BBC has contacted Ben & Jerry’s to request this statement.
Mr Cohen said Magnum “has no standing to determine who the chair of the independent board should be”.
“Therefore, by trying to [change the chair of the board], I would say that Magnum is not fit to own Ben & Jerry’s,” he added.
Mr Cohen called for either the business to be “owned by a group of investors that support the brand and want to encourage the values” or for Magnum to make a “180 degree turn around and say they support the chairman of the independent board”.
Ahead of the spin off on Monday, news agency Reuters reported that Ms Mittal said she had no plans to step down from the board.
Ben Cohen remains an employee of Ben & Jerry’s and the brand’s most high-profile spokesperson.
He told the BBC he feared under the current ownership the ice cream maker’s “loyal” followers would be lost for good.
“If the company continues to be owned by Magnum, not only will the values be lost, but the essence of the brand will be lost,” he said.
On Sunday, Magnum’s chief executive Peter ter Kulve told the Financial Times the Ben & Jerry’s founders were in their seventies and “at a certain moment they need to hand over to a new generation”.
Jerry Greenfield, Mr Cohen’s co-founder, left the ice cream maker in September after almost half a century at the firm – citing concerns about the stifling of its social mission.
“It’s absurd,” said Mr Cohen.
“This is about values and abiding by a legally binding agreement.”
Mr Cohen added investors in Magnum were being asked to pay a premium for the Ben & Jerry’s brand “because it has such a loyal following”.
“As they destroy Ben and Jerry’s values, they will destroy that following and they will destroy that brand,” he said.
“It’ll become just another piece of frozen mush that just going to lose a lot of market share.”
A spokesperson for Magnum said Ben & Jerry’s was “not for sale” and it had “always respected” the brand’s commitment to continue its “social mission”.
The demerger of Unilever’s ice cream business saw primary shares in Magnum open at €12.20 (£10.66) – down on the expected €12.80 (£11.18) reference price set by the EuroNext exchange in Amsterdam. But it bounced back up by 1.3% at close of trading.
The spin off means Magnum is now the world’s biggest standalone ice cream business.
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Pankaj Chaudhary confirmed 50.14 lakh central government employees and 69 lakh pensioners will benefit from the 8th Central Pay Commission.
8th Pay Commission Implementation
8th Pay Commission: Pankaj Chaudhary, minister of state in the Ministry of Finance, clarified that the total number of government employees currently stands at 50.14 lakh, and there are approximately 69 lakh pensioners, who will get the benefits from the 8th Pay Commission.
In a written reply to Lok Sabha dated December 8, 2025, the minister said “the number of central government employees is 50.14 lakh, and the number of pensioners is 69 lakh approximately.”
When asked the date of implementation of the 8th CPC, the Minister clarified that it will be decided by the government that the commission will make its recommendations within 18 months from the date of its constitution.
The minister was asked plans for allocation of funds for the 8th CPC in the 2026-27 budget, the MoS said it will make appropriate provision of funds for implementing the accepted recommendations of the 8th CPC. It will devise methodology and procedure for formulating its recommendations.
The finance ministry has stated that the 8th Central Pay Commission will submit its recommendations on key matters such as pay, allowances, pensions and other related issues. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary clarified the government’s position in response to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha from members Javed Ali Khan and Ramji Lal Suman, who had asked whether a revision of pensions for central government employees is being considered under the 8th CPC.
No Proposal To Merger DA, DR With Basic Pay
Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary had said earlier the central government has notified the constitution of the 8th Central Pay Commission, and there is no proposal as of now to merge the existing dearness allowance (DA) or dearness relief (DR) with the basic pay.
“No proposal regarding merger of the existing dearness allowance with the basic pay is under consideration with the government at present. In order to adjust the cost of living and to protect basic pay/ pension from erosion in real value on account of inflation, the rates of DA/ DR are revised periodically every six months on the basis of the All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW) released by Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment,” Chaudhary said in response to a query in the Lok Sabha.
He said the government has notified Resolution dated November 3, 2025, for the constitution of the Eighth Central Pay Commission. A copy of the Notification is enclosed at Annexure-1.
Click here to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google. December 09, 2025, 17:45 IST
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New Delhi: India’s initial public offerings (IPO) have raised a record Rs 1.77 lakh crore ($19.6 billion) in 2025 so far, marginally higher than the 2024 tally, as companies rush to capture increasing investor demand.
With five more offerings scheduled to close on or before December 16, including ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co.’s $1.2‑billion deal, the total value of IPO proceeds is set to rise much higher than last year’s proceeds.
In 2024, Indian IPOs raised Rs 1.73 lakh crore, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The surge reflects a maturing capital market driven by a swelling base of retail investors and steady institutional appetite, even as demand for equities in the secondary market softened.
Analysts said that firms are using buoyant demand to lock in funding before global conditions tighten, and India has eased the process for companies to list and initiated a run of big-ticket deals.
Foreign institutional investors remain active participants in IPOs despite selling a record number of Indian equities in the secondary market. FII enthusiasm in primary markets helped companies across sectors and market caps to raise capital at elevated valuations.
Almost half of the more than 300 firms listed so far this year are trading below their offer price when the scrips debuted.
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), on Thursday, proposed key reforms to address long-standing challenges around locking in pre-IPO pledged shares and simplifying public issue disclosures.
SEBI has suggested enabling depositories to designate pledged shares as “non-transferable” for the lock-in period in response to directives from the issuer.
India’s financial markets are heading into 2026 with renewed confidence, with notable surges in recent months and a resilient macroeconomic environment. This sharp turnaround was fuelled by multiple domestic triggers, including the GST 2.0 rate rationalisation that accelerated consumption across discretionary categories, a surge in manufacturing activity reflected in a two-month high PMI of 58.4.
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