Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai
Mumbai, May 29: The Magnum Ice Cream Company, the standalone ice cream business demerged from Unilever, has announced plans to invest Rs 900 crore in Maharashtra to establish a Global Capability Centre (GCC) in Pune and a regional headquarters in Mumbai.
The investment plans were discussed during a meeting between Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Magnum Ice Cream Company Chief Executive Officer Peter ter Kulve in Mumbai.
“It was an absolute delight to meet the CEO of the Magnum Ice Cream Company, Peter ter Kulve in Mumbai today,” Fadnavis said in a post on X.
According to the Chief Minister, discussions focused on the company’s plans to establish its regional headquarters for the Middle East, Turkey and South Asia (METSA) operations in Mumbai, along with expansion plans in India and progress on the proposed GCC in Pune.
The project follows a memorandum of understanding signed between the Maharashtra government and the company in 2025.
Officials said the Pune-based GCC will be the company’s first such centre in India and will support global operations in areas including supply-chain optimisation, artificial intelligence-led logistics, finance analytics and digital operations.
Mumbai will function as the regional headquarters for the company’s METSA business operations.
The Magnum Ice Cream Company emerged after the separation of Unilever’s global ice cream portfolio, which includes brands such as Magnum, Wall’s and Ben & Jerry’s.
The announcement comes even as the company’s Indian arm, Kwality Wall’s (India) Limited, reported a net loss of Rs 368.8 crore for the 14-and-a-half-month period from January 10, 2025 to March 31, 2026.
Despite the loss, the company recorded revenue from operations of around Rs 2,200 crore during the same period.
The Magnum Ice Cream Company completed the acquisition of a 61.9 per cent stake in Kwality Wall’s (India) from Unilever on March 31, 2026, following a share purchase agreement signed in June 2025.
The company has also launched a mandatory open offer to acquire an additional 26 per cent stake from public shareholders at Rs 21.33 per share.
As part of its India expansion strategy, the company is also strengthening its distribution network by deploying nearly 50,000 deep-freeze retail cabinets and expanding partnerships with quick-commerce platforms including Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart.
Industry estimates suggest that Kwality Wall’s currently holds around 11 to 14 per cent of India’s organised ice cream market by value, while Magnum controls over 35 to 40 per cent of the country’s super-premium impulse-stick ice cream segment.