90 billion, Magnum is going to be sold.

Summer has arrived. Along with ice creams, the parent companies of ice creams may also be put on the market as the season changes.

Recently, there were reports that institutions such as Blackstone and CD&R are planning to acquire the Magnum ice cream company. They are closely monitoring Magnum's stock price to decide whether to take further actions.

Although this acquisition idea is still in its early stage, it doesn't dampen the market sentiment. Magnum's stock price soared by over 18%, hitting the largest single - day increase ever. Its latest market value is 8.8 billion euros, approximately 69 billion yuan.

The market predicts that if the deal progresses further, the offers from institutions like Blackstone could reach as high as 11 - 12 billion euros (about 86 - 94 billion yuan). This is because the buyers not only need to purchase the stocks but also assume the company's debts. When Magnum was spun off from Unilever last year, it brought about 3 billion euros in net debt.

However, even an offer of 11 billion euros is a relatively low price for Magnum. Therefore, the capital market has described it as a "cheap and juicy target".

The World's Largest Ice Cream Manufacturer

Although the company is named the Magnum ice cream company, in addition to Magnum, it also owns several other brands such as Wall's, Ben & Jerry’s, Cone Do, and Thousand - layer Snow. Its predecessor was the ice cream business of the British consumer giant Unilever.

Unilever's earliest ice cream business can be traced back to 1913. At that time, a butcher named Thomas Wall decided to sell ice cream to offset the decline in sausage sales during the summer. Later, Thomas' company was acquired by Lever Brothers, the predecessor of Unilever, in 1922.

Since then, Unilever's ice cream brand Wall’s was born.

In 1930, Lever Brothers merged with a Dutch margarine company, and Unilever was officially established. The ice cream business was then integrated into this huge business empire. Different from other businesses, in Unilever's century - long history, the rise of the ice cream business is largely attributed to its highly successful localization brand acquisition strategy across the globe.

Specifically, Unilever didn't forcefully promote a single brand globally. Instead, it expanded its influence by acquiring popular local brands in various countries, such as Frigo in Spain, Langnese in Germany, Selecta in the Philippines, and Ola in South Africa.

It wasn't until 1960 that Unilever launched the first Cone Do ice cream cone in the UK through a patent it acquired in Italy. Later, Cone Do introduced the classic Cornetto series, which became extremely popular in Europe. The slogan "One bite is crispy, two bites are smooth, three bites are full" became well - known, and it created a sales myth of over 1 billion units annually worldwide.

Also during the same period, Magnum made its debut in Germany. This world's first high - end ice cream with a chocolate coating completely changed people's perception of ice cream. A Unilever executive once said that the launch of Magnum "truly revolutionized the ice cream industry and our own ice cream business as well".

Since then, Magnum has positioned itself as a high - end brand, Cone Do targets young consumers, and Wall's is a well - known national brand. Together, they form the three pillars of Unilever's ice cream business.

To fend off challenges from emerging competitors, Unilever launched a series of high - end acquisitions. For example, in 2000, it acquired the American brand Ben & Jerry's for approximately 326 million US dollars. After that, it successively acquired several high - end or premium brands, including GROM (Italian ice cream), Talenti (American cup - style ice cream), and Weis (Australian fruit - flavored ice cream), gradually perfecting its product line.

The high - frequency acquisitions during the period of consumption expansion quickly built a moat.

Before the spin - off, Unilever's ice cream was sold in over 80 countries/regions, placed in nearly 3 million offline freezers, and held about 21% of the global ice cream retail market share, becoming the world's largest ice cream company.

Based on the 2024 revenue, among the world's top five brands, four of them belong to Unilever, namely Wall's (2.8 billion euros), Magnum (1.8 billion euros), Ben & Jerry’s (1.1 billion euros), and Cone Do (700 million euros).

Moreover, according to Xiaoshidai, from 2019 to 2024, in terms of retail sales, Unilever's market share was higher than the combined share of the four companies following it. Calculated by the absolute market share in 2024, Unilever's scale is approximately equivalent to two Nestlés, five General Mills (the parent company of Häagen - Dazs), and ten Yilis.

However, despite the outstanding performance of the ice cream business, it still couldn't avoid being divested by Unilever.

Less Than Half a Year Since Independent IPO

In the past few years, Unilever has been continuously streamlining its organization to improve overall profit performance. The divested businesses include Lipton tea, the food sector, the water purification business, and the Russian business.

Back to the ice cream business, although this sector is large - scale, it has long been the least profitable sector in the group, far lower than the household cleaning and personal care businesses, and has become an important factor weakening the comprehensive profit margin. At the same time, the ice cream industry's characteristics of "heavy assets, inventory - sensitive, and highly affected by climate" are distinct compared with Unilever's other business operations.

Unilever explained that after spinning off the ice cream business, it will become a simpler and more focused company, operating in four business departments: beauty and health, personal care, household care, and nutrition.

As a "burden" on the financial statements, Unilever had to take action on the ice cream business. In the early stage, Unilever hesitated between spinning it off independently and selling it directly. Initially, it was more inclined to sell the ice cream business to private equity firms.

This news was first reported in 2024. At that time, Touzhongwang mentioned in the article "140 billion, even Cone Do and Magnum are going to be sold" that Unilever planned to sell Wall's to private equity funds and had conducted preliminary discussions on the sale with well - known institutions such as Advent International, Blackstone, and CVC Capital. The valuation could be as high as 15 billion pounds (about 140 billion yuan).

However, there was no follow - up to this news. Instead, Unilever chose the more imaginative way of "independent listing in three places". This not only optimized the group's financial structure but also freed Magnum from the long - term organizational constraints, allowing it to be re - valued and unleash its potential.

In 2025, Unilever's ice cream business completed two tasks: being spun off from the parent company and going public. After the spin - off, Unilever still holds 19.9% of Magnum's shares for a maximum period of five years. As time goes by, the retained shares will be sold in an orderly and prudent manner to cover the spin - off costs and maintain capital flexibility by reducing net debt.

On December 8, 2025, Magnum went public simultaneously in Amsterdam, London, and New York. On the first day of listing, its market value was about 7.8 billion euros (about 64 billion yuan). On the other hand, Unilever's stock price fell by 7.03% at the close, and its market value shrank by nearly 9 billion euros (about 74.1 billion yuan).

After going public, Magnum's situation wasn't much better. It even faced a collective short - selling on Wall Street.

Data from S&P Global shows that the proportion of Magnum's net short - sold stocks once soared to 19% of its free - floating shares. Along with the short - selling wave, Magnum's stock price fell by about 14% - 17% in the first four months of 2026, breaking below the issue price on the first day of listing.

On the one hand, the capital market believes that against the backdrop of the soaring demand for weight - loss drugs like semaglutide, consumers' eating habits are undergoing fundamental changes, and the long - term demand for "high - sugar, high - calorie" luxury desserts will shrink sharply. On the other hand, the global trade environment is becoming increasingly complex, the prices of ice cream raw materials are continuously skyrocketing, and consumers' willingness to buy high - end ice cream is decreasing.

After the release of the first financial report after the spin - off, Magnum even experienced the largest single - day decline since going public.

Data shows that in 2025, Magnum's total revenue was 7.91 billion euros, a slight year - on - year decrease of 0.5%; operating profit was 599 million euros, a year - on - year decrease of 21.6%; net profit was 293 million euros, a year - on - year plunge of 48.4%, almost halved. More seriously, in 2025, Magnum's free cash flow dropped sharply from 803 million euros in the previous year to 38 million euros.

Magnum attributes the decline in net profit mainly to a 118 million - euro increase in spin - off and restructuring costs, a 104 million - euro increase in net financial costs, and the impact of exchange - rate fluctuations on operating performance.

It is precisely because Magnum's financial reports and stock price have both fallen short of expectations after going public that private equity institutions have extended an olive branch for privatization. For comparison, Froneri, another ice cream manufacturer with an 11% market share, had a valuation of 15 billion euros during its financing last year, far higher than Magnum's current market value.

The Chinese Market Is the Key

The acquisition deal we mentioned at the beginning will be decided after Magnum announces its summer sales performance, as most of this ice cream company's revenue comes from the summer.

It should be noted that China has always been Magnum's second - largest single market globally. In the 2025 financial report, the performance of the Chinese market was one of the few bright spots and was clearly identified as the "strategic engine for innovation and growth" for Magnum globally. Specifically, in 2025, Magnum's revenue in China exceeded 500 million euros (about 4.1 billion yuan), a year - on - year increase of over 20%, significantly higher than the global average growth rate.

To achieve the growth target in 2026, Magnum launched a large number of new products in the Chinese market at the beginning of the year, covering brands such as Magnum, Cone Do, Wall's, and Thousand - layer Snow, and made innovations in terms of flavors, scenarios, etc. In terms of channels, Magnum is also accelerating the layout of high - growth emerging channels, including but not limited to instant retail and B - end catering channels.

However, Magnum's situation in the Chinese market is not optimistic. Compared with the relatively stable market structure and clear brand hierarchy in the European and American markets, the Chinese ice cream industry presents a highly fragmented, highly competitive, and conflicting market pattern. The entire industry is clearly divided into multiple levels and is operating at a high - speed simultaneously.

Data shows that in the Chinese ice cream market in 2025, Magnum ranked second in terms of retail value, with Yili ranking first. Mengniu, General Mills, and Shenyang Deshi Cold Drinks also ranked among the top five. It can be seen that Magnum still faces challenges in breaking through the competition from local enterprises such as Yili and Mengniu.

Fortunately, as a global brand that entered China in the 1990s, Unilever initially adopted a mid - to - high - end strategy, which means it can engage in a differentiated competition with its main competitors.

"The Chinese market is quite special. We face strong competitors, and their advantages are concentrated in the mass - market ice cream segment. Therefore, our product strategy in China focuses on high - end positioning," Magnum's CEO Peter ter Kulve once told the media.

The high - end ice cream route in China has always been high - risk and high - return.

Look, two once - popular brands, Häagen - Dazs and Zhong Xue Gao, are now in decline. What Magnum needs to do now is to firmly capture the traffic they left behind. This not only concerns its position in the Chinese market but also determines how much initiative it can hold in the merger and acquisition deal.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Touzhongwang", written by Zhang Xue and published by 36Kr with authorization.