Unilever Nears $60 Billion Deal to Combine Food Business with McCormick

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3.31.2026

Quick Facts

Unilever is in advanced talks to sell its $14.91 billion food business to McCormick for $15.7 billion in cash
The combined entity would be valued at over $60 billion, with Unilever shareholders retaining 65% control
The deal would mark McCormick’s largest acquisition in its 137-year history and Unilever’s biggest divestiture under CEO Fernando Fernandez

Unilever said Tuesday it was in advanced talks to combine its food business with spice maker McCormick in a deal that would create a $60 billion food giant.

The consumer goods company would receive $15.7 billion in cash and give shareholders majority control of the merged entity. Unilever stated “it is possible that an agreement could be concluded today.”

Unilever’s food division generated $14.91 billion in sales in 2025, about 25% of total revenue. The business includes major brands like Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Knorr soup, which account for 60% of the segment’s sales. Hellmann’s alone represents nearly $3.45 billion of the division’s value.

The food unit posted a 22.6% operating margin in 2025, matching Unilever’s personal care business for the highest margin. However, sales declined 3.2% compared to 2024, with volume growth of just 0.8%.

McCormick, which had $7 billion in sales in 2025, would gain transformational scale through the acquisition. The deal would be structured as a Reverse Morris Trust to provide tax benefits.

“We are really shifting our portfolio into more beauty, more wellbeing, more personal care,” CEO Fernando Fernandez said at a New York conference earlier this year. The move represents his biggest strategic action since taking charge in March 2025.

Unilever has faced years of investor pressure to shed food brands, particularly from activist shareholder Nelson Peltz. Peltz built a stake in 2022 and has been linked to the departure of two previous CEOs who investors felt moved too slowly on portfolio changes.

The transaction would leave Unilever focused primarily on beauty, personal care and wellness products. Food now represents just 21% of revenue, down from a much larger share historically.

“The direction of travel makes sense, for Unilever to focus on higher growth categories,” said Tineke Frikkee, a portfolio manager at Unilever investor W1M. “But we need to see the details to assess if sufficient value is being created.”

Nearly 5,000 people work in Unilever’s European food business, representing about one-third of the region’s employees. The company implemented a global hiring freeze last week that will last at least three months.