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TEP forward, Nelson Peltz. It hasn't taken long for my first corporate prediction of 2022 to bear fruit. In truth, Unilever's predicament was as ripe for an activist investor, given the monumental bungling of its £50bn approach for GlaxoSmithKline's consumer healthcare business.

Alan Jope, the Unilever chief executive, should not shoulder all of the blame for that; much of the shareholder antipathy towards its GSK tilt was a reflection of the ponderous and underwhelming track record saddling the consumer goods conglomerate for many years.

Jope's biggest mistake was failing to socialise his approach to big-ticket M&A among his investor base during the months preceding his initial approach to GSK. After all, the pharmaceuticals group's decision to break itself up has been clearly flagged for well over a year.

The Unilever chief now finds himself in a bind that no CEO finds palatable: take no action and face being ousted, or announce strategic changes to appease Trian Partners and risk being accused of allowing them to run the company from the shadows.

His fightback should start immediately with a detailed and well-argued plan to break Unilever up by spinning off its food operations. That would stimulate interest from private equity firms in brands such as Ben & Jerry's, Knorr and Hellman's mayonnaise. Even if no credible bid emerges for the food business, it would provide Jope with sufficient time to devise a listing proposal for the division.

At the same time, he would be able to illustrate how he could more speedily and efficiently allocate capital to its home and personal care operations within a reshaped Unilever.

Jope's new operating model disclosed this week, entailing 1500 job cuts - equivalent to 1 per cent of Unilever's global workforce - will barely scratch the sides. It certainly won't appease an activist like Peltz, who has shown myriad times that he is prepared to bide his time. Jope needs to do more, and quickly.

(c) 2022 City A.M., source Newspaper