Kraft Heinz withdraws Unilever merger offer

American company Kraft Heinz withdrew its proposal for a merger with Anglo-Dutch food giant Unilever. The two companies announced in a joint statement on Sunday that Kraft Heinz "amicably agreed" to withdraw the plan, ANP reports

On Friday Unilever already rejected the merger. The company did not see any strategic benefits to merging with Kraft Heinz and found the amount offered too low. The merger deal involved a total of 134 billion dollars - nearly 50 dollars per Unilever share. 

News of the possible merger sent Unilever shares skyrocketing on Friday. Share prices increased by 13 percent. 

On paper Unilever is much larger than Kraft Heinz, according to the news wire. Unilever employs 169 thousand people, while Heinz has about 42 thousand employees. The Anglo-Dutch company's turnover was 52.7 billion euros last year, more than twice that of Kraft Heinz.