By Adria Calatayud

Unilever PLC said Thursday that it plans to unify its legal structure under a single parent company, moving from its current dual structure.

The Anglo-Dutch consumer-goods giant, which makes Dove soap and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, said the unification will give it greater strategic flexibility and remove complexity as it seeks to accelerate the pace of portfolio change as part of an evaluation of its categories and brands that began last year.

Unilever said having as much flexibility and responsiveness as possible will be critically important in the business environment created by the coronavirus pandemic.

The unification will be implemented through a cross-border merger between Unilever PLC and Unilever NV, under which Unilever NV shareholders will receive one new Unilever PLC share per each share held, the company said.

"We remain committed to the Netherlands and the UK and there will be no change to Unilever's footprint in either country as a result of the proposed change to Unilever's legal parent structure," Chairman Nils Andersen said.

The company's board expects Unilever to remain indexed on both the AEX and FTSE UK exchanges.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@dowjones.com