Brands
KWIL to list on 16 Feb after HUL ice cream demerger
Rs 1800 to 2000 crore business spun off at Rs 10000 to 12000 crore value.
MUMBAI: Hindustan Unilever Ltd has decided it is time to serve its ice cream separately. On February 16, Kwality Walls India Ltd will make its stock market debut, marking the formal listing of HUL’s demerged ice cream business as an independent entity. The move completes a strategic separation that began when HUL turned ex ice cream on December 5 as part of its approved scheme of arrangement.
Under the demerger structure, shareholders received one equity share of KWIL for every one share held in HUL, ensuring proportional ownership in the carved out company. The exercise effectively unlocked the ice cream vertical from HUL’s broader home and personal care portfolio, where it contributed roughly 3 per cent of total revenue.
In absolute terms, the Kwality Walls business was estimated at around Rs 1800 to 2000 crore in annual revenue. However, unlike HUL’s higher margin core categories, the ice cream division operated at low single digit margins, reflecting the capital intensive, cold chain dependent and seasonally volatile nature of the segment in India.
The separation is widely viewed as a strategic realignment. Ice cream runs on a different supply chain logic, distinct distribution demands and sharper seasonal swings compared to soaps, detergents and personal care products. As a standalone entity, KWIL is expected to pursue sharper category specific growth and margin management strategies without being structurally tied to the broader FMCG playbook.
Financially, the demerger triggered a visible stock adjustment. On the ex date, HUL’s share price was marked down by Rs 44 to reflect the value of the spun off business. Market assessments at the time pegged the ice cream arm’s valuation in the range of Rs 10000 to 12000 crore.
The February 16 listing will now test that estimate in real time, as investors assign a market discovered value to KWIL as a pure play ice cream company. For HUL, it marks a cleaner portfolio. For KWIL, it is the first day as a standalone brand on Dalal Street.
Either way, the freezer has been opened and the market is about to take a taste.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
