Linklaters and Davis Polk are advising Unilever on the restructuring of its business, which will see the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant simplify its structure into a single holding company, New Unilever NV, incorporated in the Netherlands.

Linklaters has taken the lead role for Unilever, while a London team from US firm Davis Polk is advising sponsoring bank UBS in connection to the overhaul, including City corporate partner Will Pearce and tax partner Jonathan Cooklin.

Unilever, which produces household name brands such as Dove soap and Hellman's mayonnaise, announced earlier this year that it planned to simplify into a single legal entity incorporated in the Netherlands.

The company began to review its structure last year, shortly after it declined a high-profile $143bn (£109bn) takeover bid from US food giant Kraft-Heinz.

The restructuring is expected to see the company leave the FTSE 100, with a notice published on the FTSE Russell website stating that New Unilever NV will "no longer be eligible" for the index.

Unilever has in the past turned to Slaughter and May for much of its big-ticket corporate work, but Linklaters has picked up a number of key mandates for the company in recent years.

A Linklaters team led by corporate head Aedamar Comiskey and corporate partners McNicholl and Nick Rumsby led on the defence of the Kraft-Heinz bid in 2017, while in the same year the magic circle firm advised on the £6.5bn sale of its margarine and spreads division, with the firm's co-head of consumer Paul McNicholl and London corporate partner Matthew Bland advising.

Other work Linklaters has done for the company has included advising on a $5.4bn (£4.5bn) deal to increase its stake in Hindustan Unilever, the publicly listed Indian subsidiary of the consumer goods giant, and acting on its €390m (£330m) acquisition of an 82% stake in Russian beauty company Concern Kalina in 2011.