Magnum welcomes pruning of Ben & Jerry’s lawsuit

Magnum Ice Cream Company has welcomed a US court's decision to narrow a lawsuit brought by former Ben & Jerry's independent directors over the ice-cream brand's activism and governance changes. Judge Kevin Castel dismissed most of the claims, reducing the ten counts to three. He ruled that Magnum, a Netherlands-based ice-cream business, should serve as the primary defendant instead of the FMCG conglomerate Unilever.

Magnum stated it welcomed the court's decision to significantly narrow the lawsuit's scope, adding that the decision to drop Ben & Jerry's from the case demonstrated the former directors had no right to sue on their behalf. Two claims remain, both tied to settlement agreements with Unilever and a governance dispute.