Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has finished the heavy lifting to spin off its ice cream wing. This move splits the business into a standalone entity. On Monday, February 16, 2026, this new company, Kwality Wall’s (India) Limited, officially started its life on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The split follows a global plan by the parent company, Unilever, to ditch its cold-chain assets and focus on soaps and beauty.
The market gave the new stock a cold shoulder on its first morning. On the NSE, Kwality Wall’s shares began at 29.80 rupees. That is a sharp 25.87 percent drop from the pre-listing target of 40.20 rupees. Over on the BSE, the ticker started at 29.90 rupees. Even with the price slide, the company’s total market value sat just above 7,001 crore rupees. Investors who held HUL stock on December 5, 2025, received one share of this new ice cream firm for every HUL share they owned.
At the same time, a major Dutch company called The Magnum Ice Cream Company HoldCo 1 started a mandatory open offer. They want to grab another 26 percent of the company from the public. They are offering 21.33 rupees for each share, which makes the whole deal worth about 1,303 crore rupees. This happened because the Magnum group already bought a 61.9 percent stake from Unilever’s global units.
HUL’s top team said the break-up was a must. Ice cream is a tough, seasonal game that only made up 3 percent of HUL’s total sales. Unlike Selling shampoo, ice cream needs massive freezers and specialized trucks. By hiving this off, HUL expects its own profit margins to climb by about 60 basis points. Kwality Wall’s now stands alone as India’s first large, pure-play ice cream stock. It will now have to find its own path to growth while managing brands like Cornetto and Magnum.
