Photo of Bas Scholten, The Magnum Ice Cream Company N.V. (TMICC), Ilse Henkens, Deutsche Bank, Anna Elphick and Maarten Rust, The Magnum Ice Cream Company N.V. (TMICC).
Anna Elphick
Global Head of Tax, Treasury & Insurance
United Kingdom
The Magnum Ice Cream Company N.V. (TMICC) is the world’s leading ice cream business. Home to four of the world’s five largest ice cream brands: Magnum, Ben & Jerry’s, Cornetto and the Heartbrand, their portfolio delights consumers in 80 markets around the world.
Headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, they have a global team of 18,000 employees, a network of 34 factories, 13 R&D centres, and a fleet of three million freezer cabinets.
As the most coveted accolade in the Adam Smith Awards programme, the Top Treasury Team award is designed to recognise teams that have truly achieved something exceptional, whether that’s delivering a suite of solutions or integrating a new acquisition.
Crucially, the winning company needs to demonstrate that its achievements are a team effort – one that’s either undertaken by the treasury team alone, or carried out in collaboration with other functions across the business.
This year’s Top Treasury Team, The Magnum Ice Cream Company, impressed the judges with a solution that spanned numerous areas of treasury while demonstrating impressive levels of teamwork, resilience and strategic vision. The solution was triggered by Unilever’s decision to spin off its ice cream business, which prompted an ambitious project to create a new treasury function from scratch.
Along the way, the company created new bank relationships, implemented a treasury management system (TMS), established new cash pooling structures, negotiated International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) agreements and issued a €3bn debut bond – as well as achieving the largest listing on Euronext in 2025.
Creating a standalone treasury function
The journey began in March 2024, when Unilever announced its plans to separate its €8bn global ice cream business by the end of 2025.
From a treasury perspective, this set the clock ticking on an ambitious initiative to create a new treasury function from scratch in a very short timeframe. And there was no room for error, with Unilever’s shareholders, capital markets, rating agencies and regulators all expecting a fully standalone, listed company by December 2025.
Until then, treasury operations for the ice cream business had been fully integrated into Unilever’s global infrastructure, including cash pooling, FX hedging, commodity risk management, bank relationships and funding. The Magnum Ice Cream Company was to inherit nothing: no bank accounts, no TMS, no credit facilities, no capital markets presence and no hedging framework.
As a result, the team needed to establish a standalone treasury function capable of supporting the world’s largest ice cream company, operating in over 40 countries, with 30+ manufacturing plants and around three million freezer cabinets.
To achieve this, the team would need to adopt an appropriate capital structure, establish financial policies, achieve standalone ratings and raise financing to function as an independent entity, ahead of a planned triple listing on Euronext Amsterdam, LSE and NYSE. And critically, all of this had to be achieved by December 2025.
‘Clean sheet’ approach
As Anna Elphick, The Magnum Ice Cream Company’s Global Head of Tax, Treasury & Insurance, reflects: “The separation gave us a once in a lifetime opportunity to build a new model from scratch, inspired by the strength and discipline of the Unilever legacy. We designed a treasury operating model that was simpler, more agile and fit for the future as a standalone ice cream company. That meant putting the right processes, systems and partnerships in place across cash management, banking, funding, risk and technology. I am very proud of the team for delivering this at such pace, while keeping the business running smoothly throughout.”
Embarking on this challenge, the team decided against simply replicating Unilever’s existing structures, instead choosing a ‘clean sheet’ approach that involved designing a treasury framework optimised for a company focused solely on ice cream.
Rather than structuring this effort with sequential workstreams, the team also opted to deliver multiple strands of the project in parallel – effectively compressing several years of work into just 20 months.
The new company’s cash management architecture needed to be tailored to its seasonality, cold chain needs and distributor relationships. This involved implementing a TMS, opening bank accounts in more than 40 countries, and obtaining funding and completing a bond issuance for a business that had no independent credit history.
What’s more, all of this needed to take place while the company’s day-to-day operations continued, including its cold-chain logistics. Simply put, the company’s freezers needed to stay cold: even a brief treasury disruption can break a cold chain and lead to wasted product.
“I’m delighted and honoured to have accepted this award on behalf of all my team. It reflects many months of intense work as we established the Magnum Ice Cream treasury function and prepared for our future following the demerger and listings. It’s a true reflection of the professionalism, dedication and collaboration of the team, and I am deeply proud of everything which we have achieved together.”
Anna Elphick, Global Head of Tax, Treasury & Insurance
Recipe for success
The creation of the new treasury function was a project that covered the full spectrum of treasury activities, from cash management and banking relationships to funding and risk:
Virtual accounts: in Europe, The Magnum Ice Cream Company implemented sophisticated virtual account structures that provided detailed visibility by entity, currency and channel, without the need for physical accounts.
Cash pooling: the team established global cash pooling structures across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, in an effort that involved balancing the benefits of cash centralisation with local regulatory requirements.
Banking relationships: the company established new relationships for the future standalone business, conducting comprehensive selection processes to identify the right long-term partners. Following the selection process, The Magnum Ice Cream Company onboarded a core group of 11 banks, and ultimately raised €5bn in syndicated facilities including a bridge facility, two term loans and a revolving credit facility.
Risk management: ISDA Master Agreements were negotiated with several counterparties, enabling the company to implement the necessary FX, commodity and interest rate hedging processes.
Treasury policies and governance: comprehensive treasury policies were adopted globally, meeting regulatory requirements across the three listing jurisdictions. Appropriate governance and controls were put in place.
Capital markets: the project also included significant capital market activity, including a debut bond issuance and a Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) programme.
Treasury technology: The Magnum Ice Cream Company selected and implemented Kyriba as its TMS, providing global cash visibility and automated bank connectivity.
Notable achievements
Among the team’s many achievements, the company’s funding arrangements were particularly noteworthy. Upon assembling its bank group, The Magnum Ice Cream Company secured a €3bn bridge facility to provide contingency funding, supported by a €1bn term loan and a €1bn revolving credit facility. In addition, a long-dated delayed draw term loan provided funding flexibility and cost optimisation.
Subsequently, the company established an €8bn EMTN Programme. It also executed a €3bn debut bond issuance to refinance the bridge facility across four tranches, with maturities between 2029 and 2037.
Executing a €3bn debut bond for a business with no independent track record required significant investor education. However, The Magnum Ice Cream Company presented a strong credit story that was seven times oversubscribed, demonstrating strong investor confidence. The bond also achieved investment-grade ratings – BBB from S&P and Baa2 from Moody’s – despite a late year issuance window.
A particular challenge came in October 2025, when a US federal government shutdown forced The Magnum Ice Cream Company’s listing timeline to shift from November to December 2025. However, the team adapted rapidly, while maintaining execution momentum, and the company was able to meet the 2025 target listing requirements across the Netherlands, UK and US.
The company’s subsequent December 2025 demerger marked the largest listing on Euronext in 2025. The opening share price of €12.96 implied a market capitalisation of €7.9bn, validating the treasury team’s contribution to creating a credible, investable standalone company.
Throughout the separation process, the team managed complex intercompany settlements, untangled legacy cash pooling across 40+ markets and executed large cross‑currency payments – all while keeping the freezers cool and avoiding any operational disruption to the business.
The project in numbers
20-month project.
40+ countries.
11 new relationship banks.
€5bn in new money bank facilities.
€3bn debut bond issuance with 7x oversubscription.
250+ accounts.
€8bn EMTN programme.
€7.9bn market capitalisation at listing.
Teamwork and resilience
On the morning of 8th December 2025, The Magnum Ice Cream Company’s Chief Executive Peter ter Kulve rang the bell at Euronext Amsterdam to open trading. “For us, the moment marked the culmination of 20 months of intense work that stretched us both professionally and personally,” continued Elphick.
Reflecting on the team’s achievements, Elphick notes that building from the ground up required exceptional coordination – and teamwork around the world was crucial to the project’s success.
“In Europe, colleagues designed cash pooling structures,” she says. “Across Asia, teams navigated demanding regulatory landscapes, while in the Americas, our treasury partners ensured our largest market operated smoothly from day one. The collaboration was constant and essential.”
“When the United States government shutdown in October 2025 impacted the planned listing date, we adapted to the circumstances and sustained momentum until December. When investors questioned the strength of our standalone credit profile, we worked with investor relations to develop a narrative that secured seven times oversubscription.”
These achievements are all the more impressive given that the entire global treasury team (except one individual) was new to the company. Nevertheless, the team hit the ground running and operated as a single unit, supported by strong relationships with colleagues from the company’s finance, legal, tax and commercial functions.
Driving corporate transformation
Today, The Magnum Ice Cream Company stands as the largest ice cream business in the world, home to four of the five largest brands in the category.
The new treasury organisation meets the standards of major global companies: it has visibility over more than 40 countries, strong hedging capabilities, efficient cash pooling and an €8bn EMTN programme. What’s more, the platform is flexible enough to allow The Magnum Ice Cream Company to continue refining its setup as it continues to grow as an independent business.
As Elphick concludes, “This experience demonstrated that treasury can drive corporate transformation. Every major milestone – from the carve-out to the bond issue and ultimately the listing – relied on our ability to deliver.”
What the judges said:
“This project was impressive on multiple levels. From establishing treasury operations in over 40 countries to navigating a US government shutdown, The Magnum Ice Cream Company rose to the challenge of building a treasury from the ground up, with some impressive milestones along the way, including 2025’s largest Euronext listing. An inspirational story and a strong team effort.”
Carving out and establishing a standalone treasury function for a business of TMICC’s scale within such demanding timelines is an exceptional achievement. From building treasury infrastructure across more than 40 countries to supporting a landmark debut bond issuance and triple listing, the team demonstrated remarkable strategic vision and execution throughout the separation process. Deutsche Bank was proud to support TMICC in creating this future-ready treasury platform for the company’s next phase of growth, and we congratulate the entire treasury team on this well-deserved recognition.
in partnership with
The Adam Smith Awards are the industry benchmark for best practice and innovation in corporate treasury. The 2026 awards attracted 635 nominations. To find out more please visit treasurytoday.com/adam-smith-awards
Creating a free account helps us to understand our community better, and tailor our content and events to suit your needs. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Creating a free account helps us to understand our community better, and tailor our content and events to suit your needs. You can unsubscribe at any time.
