LONDON, May 8, 2026, 00:39 BST
Unilever PLC kicked off its €1.5 billion share buyback with roughly 3.3 million ordinary shares snapped up as the company pushes ahead with its strategy to focus more on beauty, personal care, and home care. Purchases took place on the London Stock Exchange and other venues between April 30 and May 1, according to a regulatory filing. The shares are headed for treasury.
The buyback’s timing stands out now, becoming the most prominent element in a break-up narrative that still hasn’t convinced investors. According to Morningstar, Unilever shares are off to their weakest annual start since 2009, with the market unsettled by uncertainty around what the company will look like after it merges its food unit with McCormick.
Unilever is shifting its focus, aiming to become a “pure-play” HPC company—industry-speak for beauty, wellbeing, personal care, and household cleaning. Under the March deal with McCormick, Unilever Foods lands a $44.8 billion valuation. The structure: Unilever and its shareholders are lined up for 65% of the combined company’s fully diluted equity, while Unilever itself pockets $15.7 billion in cash. Unilever
Unilever will shed its food division, narrowing its focus to brands like Dove, Vaseline, Rexona, Cif, and Comfort. But the move isn’t as straightforward as it sounds. The company is relying on a Reverse Morris Trust—a tax-friendly U.S. mechanism that spins off and then merges a business. According to , both analysts and investors are raising flags over the deal’s structure, the schedule, and whether antitrust regulators might step in.
Unilever’s May 6 filing revealed it picked up shares via Morgan Stanley across several venues: LSE, BATS, Chi-X, Turquoise and Aquis. With those buys, Unilever’s treasury count stood at 3,298,461 ordinary shares. The company reported 2,181,906,786 ordinary shares outstanding, not counting those held in treasury.
Unilever’s first-quarter numbers gave investors some breathing room. Underlying sales climbed 3.8%—the company’s favored metric to strip out currency moves and acquisitions—driven by a 2.9% boost in volume and a 0.9% uptick in price. Turnover, though, slipped 3.3% to €12.6 billion, dented by a hefty 7.7% blow from currencies.
Unilever’s Chief Executive Fernando Fernandez said the group “started the year well,” noting that its bigger “Power Brands” drove the gains in volume. The company stuck with its 2026 forecast, still calling for underlying sales growth toward the lower end of the 4% to 6% range, and at least 2% growth in underlying volume.
It’s not just about the results. Diana Radu, an analyst at Morningstar, sees the appeal in Unilever’s sharpened focus, but points out the company is now left with “more fragmented and competitive” segments compared to food. Will Nott, portfolio manager at Ninety One, put it bluntly: management needs to steer clear of “dropping the ball on foods” as they handle the main business. Morningstar
Competition has been tightening, too. Just last week, Reuters revealed that Unilever is looking at full-year cost inflation somewhere between €750 million and €900 million. Finance chief Srinivas Phatak told reporters the company plans to roll out price hikes “in small doses.” Nestle, Procter & Gamble and Reckitt? They’ve sounded the alarm on rising costs as well. Reuters
Consumer goods firms walk a tightrope here. Push prices too high and buyers start switching to cheaper options; go too easy and margins take a hit. Unilever, for its part, only just returned to chasing volume growth, after previous hikes sent some shoppers running to private-label products instead.
Still, hurdles remain. Reuters noted Unilever and McCormick shareholders voiced concerns about integration, regulatory challenges, and how long it might take to finalize the deal. Bill Kovacic, former Federal Trade Commission chair, pointed out the transaction would probably face scrutiny since food mergers often impact what consumers pay.
Backing the move, Artisan Partners’ David Samra told Reuters that the McCormick deal brings a clearer split between Unilever’s food business and its personal care and home products. He argued the leftover segments ought to fetch a stronger earnings multiple once they’re standing on their own.
Right now, the buyback sharpens Unilever’s capital-return story. But the tougher issues are unresolved: Can the company drive higher sales, defend its margins as costs climb, and wrap up the McCormick deal—without losing focus on the brands set to shape Unilever’s next chapter?
