LONDON, March 30, 2026, 14:16 BST
Unilever PLC shares opened at 4,500 pence in London on Monday, with McCormick due to report first-quarter results on March 31 after Reuters reported on March 27 that any deal under discussion would likely leave Unilever shareholders with a majority stake in the combined company. 1
The timing matters. A transaction would amount to the biggest portfolio move at Unilever since the December demerger of its Magnum ice cream business, and it comes as Chief Executive Fernando Fernandez tries to push the group harder toward faster-growing beauty, personal care and wellbeing lines. Foods still made up 26% of turnover in 2025, even as Beauty & Wellbeing and Personal Care grew faster. 2
Unilever said on March 20 that it had received an inbound offer for Foods and was in discussions with McCormick, while insisting the unit remained a “highly attractive business” and warning there was no certainty any deal would be agreed. McCormick issued its own statement the same day confirming the talks and then said it would not comment further unless more disclosure became necessary. 3
The structure being considered is a reverse Morris trust, a tax-efficient way of spinning off a business and then merging it with another group. Reuters said such an arrangement would allow Unilever investors to end up with more than 50% of the new company while avoiding a change-of-control tax hit. 4
That arithmetic is why the market keeps circling back to the deal. Barclays estimated the food arm was worth 28 billion to 31 billion euros including debt, against McCormick’s roughly $18 billion value including debt, while Unilever’s own 2025 breakdown showed Foods grew 2.5% last year and accounted for 26% of group turnover. 4
The business is not small. It includes Knorr, Hellmann’s and Marmite, and Reuters has reported it generated about 2.9 billion euros of operating profit last year, though growth has lagged behind Unilever’s beauty and personal care operations. 5
Analysts can see the industrial logic, but not much room for error. TD Cowen’s Robert Moskow said there was “strong strategic logic” in a tie-up, while GlobalData’s Neil Saunders called McCormick a “natural fit” from an operating standpoint. Chris Beckett at Quilter Cheviot said the hard part would be finding a price and structure that worked for both sets of shareholders. 6
But this is where the risks sit. Davis Householder of MycoManagement told Reuters that separating a global food platform from Unilever’s supply chain and distribution without hurting brands would be difficult, while a Wall Street Journal analysis published on March 29 said large food mergers have often failed to create value as shoppers shift toward store brands, healthier choices and less processed products. 6
There is also fresh competitive context. Reuters reported earlier this month that Unilever and Kraft Heinz had held talks over parts of their food businesses before those discussions ended, underscoring how big packaged-food groups are still looking for scale in a slow-growth aisle. McCormick’s 2017 purchase of Reckitt Benckiser’s food arm is another reason investors see it as a plausible buyer. 7
Fernandez, who took over in March 2025, still has to show the reshaped company can deliver without another long and messy carve-out. In February, Unilever said 2026 sales growth would likely come in at the low end of its 4% to 6% multi-year range as demand in the United States and Europe softened. 2
For now, the next public markers are close. McCormick is scheduled to report first-quarter results on March 31, and Unilever’s first-quarter trading statement is due on April 30, dates that may sharpen questions over appetite, timing and price for any deal. 8
