LONDON, March 26, 2026, 16:42 GMT
Unilever hovered just above its lowest mark in a year Thursday, slipping 0.4% to 4,504 pence by the close of late London trading. The stock touched 4,481 pence on Wednesday, the weakest level in twelve months, according to FT market data.
Not much wiggle room here. Fernando Fernandez, aiming to prove Unilever’s stripped-down profile can actually pick up the pace post-Magnum ice cream spinoff, still has a tough sell: back in February, the company projected 2026 growth scraping the lower bound of its 4%-6% target—despite delivering a 20% operating margin in 2025 and announcing a fresh 1.5 billion euro share buyback.
On March 20, Unilever described its Foods business as “a highly attractive business,” acknowledging an inbound offer and ongoing talks with McCormick. The company also said there’s no guarantee a deal will be reached. Unilever
This is no minor asset. Foods pulled in 12.9 billion euros in sales in 2025—over a quarter of the group’s total revenue, according to Reuters. Margins reached 22.6%, outpacing the group’s overall 20%. By sales, it’s Unilever’s number two business.
Barclays analyst Warren Ackerman last week flagged the risk: Fernandez might “need another year under his belt” before taking on a split. W1M’s Tineke Frikkee, for her part, pointed to potential tax hits and shrinking economies of scale in emerging markets if a demerger goes ahead. Shares in rivals Reckitt and Nestle slid as well when those early spin-off headlines appeared. Reuters
Some investors backing the move see it differently. Richard Saldanha at Aviva called Unilever’s review of its Foods business “sensible,” arguing that personal care and beauty deliver stronger category growth. Bernstein analysts weighed in, saying that right now, simplicity trumps scale. Barclays, according to Reuters, gave the foods unit a price tag between 28 billion and 31 billion euros—well above McCormick’s market cap at the time the talks surfaced. Reuters
Still, pulling this off won’t be easy. Neil Saunders at GlobalData sees McCormick as a good operational match, but Quilter Cheviot’s Chris Beckett points out that finding a price Unilever will accept—without shortchanging McCormick shareholders—will be tough. The bigger challenge, according to Davis Householder from MycoManagement, will come down to splitting off the food platform without disrupting supply chains, distribution, or how brands are handled.
Unilever shares remain far off last year’s peak. According to FTSE Russell data from March 25, the stock sat more than 17% under its 52-week high, hitting the year’s low. Investors appear to be holding out for either firmer deal terms or an outright exit before reconsidering a higher price.
