Unilever spin-off The Magnum Ice Cream Company launched on the Amsterdam stock exchange on Monday, opening at €12.20 per share, which is lower than some analysts had expected.

Unilever itself, now without its ice cream arm, was down 3.2% in early trading. Most stocks on the AEX blue chip index also opened down slightly ahead of a week’s trading.

The IPO is the biggest of the year in Amsterdam and Magnum is the biggest ice cream maker in the world, with some 21% of the global market thanks to brands such as Magnum itself, Ben & Jerrys and Ola.

Unilever, now a 100% British company, has retained a 20% share in the ice cream company.

Last month the Financieele Dagblad said shareholders in the Magnum Ice Cream Company will not have to pay dividend tax in the Netherlands for the next five years, and this guarantee was one of the reasons the brand chose Amsterdam rather than London for both its main stock exchange listing and its new head office.

The company also has secondary listings in London and New York.