Magnum Ice Cream stock soars on report of private equity takeover

Shares of Ben & Jerry’s parent company Magnum Ice Cream Company jumped as much as 18% after Reuters reported that Blackstone and CD&R are among firms in the early stages of exploring a bid for the company.

It comes less than six months after it spun off from Unilever to create the world’s largest standalone ice cream maker. 

The private equity firms are monitoring the company’s share price before deciding whether to make a move, according to the Reuters report, which cites sources familiar with the matter. Potential bidders were waiting for Magnum to report summer sales before making a decision, Reuters reported.

Coming into Friday trading, the stock traded near debut prices on Dec. 8 2025. 

Magnum’s Amsterdam-listed shares ended Friday up 9.1%, while U.S.-listed shares rose by a similar amount.

A Magnum spokesperson said the company doesn’t comment on rumors or speculation. Blackstone and CD&R declined to comment.

Magnum owns the eponymous ice cream brand, as well as Cornetto, Heartbrand, and Ben & Jerry’s.

Analysts have cautioned about the lack of visibility on Magnum’s growth prospects.

Similar to other consumer goods companies, Magnum “will face energy and input cost inflation as a result of the conflict in the Middle East, as well as potential disruption to consumer sentiment,” said UBS analysts earlier this month.

They noted, however, that it had several buffers at its disposal, such as the ability to cover cost inflation via better-than-expected commodity tailwinds for dairy and palm oil.

A group led by Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen has been advocating for the brand to become independent. The campaign, dubbed “Free Ben & Jerry’s,” has been ongoing for years, with Cohen slamming both Magnum and previous owner Unilever for squashing its social mission. The ice cream brand was sold to Unilever in 2000.

Magnum reported first-quarter sales growth in April that beat expectations, driven by volume growth, following a large miss in the previous quarter. Quarterly sales were 1.77 billion euros ($2.06 billion).

“Execution improvements are evident—notably in Europe—but growth remains uneven & margin/return uncertainty persists,” said Jefferies analyst earlier this month. “2Q represents c35% of annual sales & will be critical to perceptions.”

The first three months of the year tend to be seasonally weaker, and market watchers are now looking to peak summer sales, when ice cream tends to be most in demand.

The company has a market cap of about $9 billion, and trades at around 15 times forward earnings, excluding Friday’s move.