Ben & Jerry's founders explore deal to separate brand from owner, WSJ reports (Oct 26)

(Corrects Ben & Jerry's independent board member numbers to five from two in paragraph ​9 in October 26 story)

Oct 26 (Reuters) - Ben & Jerry's founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are exploring a deal ‌to separate their brand from its current owner, the Wall Street Journal reported ⁠on Monday.

The ice cream brand ​is owned by Unilever spin-off ⁠Magnum Ice Cream.

The co-founders have been discussing a deal ‌with Pete Stavros, founder ‌of Expanding ESOPs, to carve out the business and ⁠structure it under an employee ⁠stock-ownership plan, WSJ said, citing Stavros and Cohen.

The structure would give rank-and-file employees stock while providing the company with tax benefits, the report added.

But any deal would need to be approved by Ben & Jerry's owner Magnum, which told Reuters ‌in an emailed statement that "Ben & Jerry's ​is not for sale and, more importantly, is thriving as part of The Magnum Ice Cream Company."

"Taking Ben & Jerry's out of Magnum would drive significant dis-synergies, investment in the social mission would fall, and selling prices per unit would inflate," it added.

Ben & Jerry's has a history of vocal social activism and its founders and board have repeatedly clashed with former ​parent Unilever over political and ethical stances.

Magnum has also looked to ‌weaken the control ‌of ⁠Ben & Jerry's independent board.

The company currently has five members on its independent board.

Cohen told the WSJ that "all he could do is try to generate more public pressure on Magnum to sell."

Ben & ‌Jerry's and representatives for ​the co-founders and Stravos did not ‌immediately respond to Reuters ⁠requests for ​comment.

(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava and Anshuman Tripathy in Bengaluru; Editing by ​Shailesh Kuber)

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