"This is cheap money meeting industrial logic," said Steve Clayton, manager of the HL Select UK Shares fund at Hargreaves Lansdown, which owns Unilever shares. "Kraft Heinz are attempting a massive push on the fast forward button ... To acquire the sheer scale of brands that Unilever represents through one-off acquisitions could take decades," Clayton added.Britain's largest union, Unite, represents employees at Unilever, according to its website. Unite urged Unilever to continue fending off the takeover attempt to prevent job losses.Unilever employs 168,000 people and generates roughly 17 percent of its revenue in the United States compared with Kraft-Heinz, which generates roughly 78 percent in America.A recent wave of cross-border deals in Europe is leaving British businesses vulnerable to possible job cuts. Pegeuot SA's proposed acquisition of General Motors Co's Opel business may eventually lead to heavy restructuring at the Vauxhall brands, which employ 4,500 people in Britain, sources said.Centerview and Morgan Stanley are working with Unilever alongside UBS and Deutsche Bank, who are also acting as corporate brokers. Kraft is working with Lazard.

Source: The Star February 17, 2017 22:45 UTC