McCormick in $44.8 Billion Merger With Unilever’s Foods Business

Cleary Gottlieb is representing McCormick & Company Inc. (McCormick) in its agreement to combine with Unilever PLC’s global foods business (Unilever Foods).

Upon closing of the transaction, Unilever shareholders are expected to own 55.1%, McCormick shareholders will own 35% and Unilever is expected to own 9.9% of the fully diluted combined-company outstanding equity. Unilever will also receive $15.7 billion in cash, subject to certain closing adjustments.

The transaction signed on March 31, 2026, and is expected to close by mid-2027, subject to McCormick shareholders’ approval, receipt of required regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

The combination brings together two industry-leading organizations with complementary global footprints and portfolios of iconic brands across herbs, spices, seasonings, cooking aids, condiments, and sauces. The combined company is expected to benefit from expanded global reach, enhanced scale across retail and foodservice channels and greater resources to invest in innovation, brand-building, and global distribution.

Unilever Foods’ assets are a highly complementary fit with McCormick’s portfolio of iconic brands, which include McCormick, French’s, Frank’s RedHot, Cholula, Stubb’s, OLD BAY, and Lawry’s, and its 137-year history of flavoring foods for every cuisine and trend. In addition to retail and branded foodservice offerings, McCormick develops custom flavors and condiments for customers as well as its own products within its Flavor Solutions segment.

Cleary has worked with McCormick for nearly 10 years on a variety of matters, including its $4.2 billion acquisition of the food business of British conglomerate Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc. in 2017, and its acquisition of the parent company of Cholula Hot Sauce for $800 million in 2020.

For more information, please see the press release.

The Cleary M&A team is led by partners Glenn McGrory and Charles Allen, and includes senior attorney Kim Petrick and associates Francesca D’Agostino, Yuan He, William Shi, Samuel Olson in New York, and partner Dan Tierney and associates James Soussa and Luca Engström in London. Partners Amanda Toy and Michael Albano and associates Hollie Chenault, Maisha Kamal, and Rabab Alajmi are advising on executive compensation and benefits matters, with assistance from associate John Greenberg. Partners Jason Factor and Swift Edgar and associate Kelsey Barthold are advising on U.S. tax matters, with support from law clerk Seth Stancroff. Partner Richard Sultman and associate Peter North are advising on UK tax matters. Partners Brian Byrne and Blair Matthews and associates Alexandra Hudon, Brittany Day, Jonathan Glustein, and Paul Ahn are advising on antitrust matters. Partner Duane McLaughlin and associates Elise Toscano, Alex Patterson, Andy Xie, and Kylee Nguyen are advising on financial matters. Partners Francesca Odell and Helena Grannis and associates Natalia Rezai and Frank Zhang are advising on capital markets matters. Partners Daniel Ilan and Gareth Kristensen and associates Melissa Faragasso, Jaehwan Park, Ariana Croll, Markos Day, and Nicola Duemler are advising on intellectual property and data privacy matters, with support from law clerk Gabriela Landolfo. Partner Chase Kaniecki and associate Ryan Brown are advising on sanctions and trade control matters. Senior attorneys James Corsiglia and Andres Saenz are advising on anti-corruption matters. Partner Beau Sterling and associate Madison Bush are advising on environmental, health, and safety matters. Real estate attorney Jacqueline Debs is advising on real estate matters.