McCormick & Company, Incorporated announced the planned operating model, executive team, and secondary listing location for the company following the closing of its proposed combination with Unilever’s Foods business (“Unilever Foods”), which is expected by mid-2027.
Brendan Foley, chairman, president and chief executive officer of McCormick, said, “First and foremost, I want to thank the dedicated integration planning teams for their diligent work. Our significant progress to date is a testament to McCormick’s unique track record and learnings from past integrations, the deep expertise from both organizations, and our collective focus on creating a differentiated global flavor leader.”
Operating Model
Effective upon the transaction closing, McCormick will reorganize into four commercial divisions that are expected to be the reportable segments of the combined company:
– Americas Consumer
– International Consumer
– Global Food Service
– Global Flavor
The Consumer business, which encompasses the combined company’s retail sales of herbs, spices, seasonings, cooking aids, condiments, and sauces, will be organized into two geographic divisions, reflecting its scale. The structure has been designed to enhance the combined company’s reach, strengthen its global brands tailored to local markets, and elevate the combined company’s innovation and product development capabilities. Americas Consumer will have $8 billion in 2025 in annual sales across North, Central, and South America. International Consumer will have $7 billion in 2025 annual sales across the rest of the world, including the EMEA and APAC regions.
Global food service will have $4 billion2 in 2025 in annual sales and provides a wide range of flavor products to operators of restaurants and in other away-from-home channels. This division will unite the unique capabilities of both businesses – Unilever’s expertise in back-of-house food service and chef-to-chef culinary capabilities and McCormick’s expertise in brand-driven front-of-house.
The global flavor division will have $2.5 billion in 2025 in annual sales and provides customized specialty flavors, seasonings, condiments, and coatings to global food, beverage, and consumer health companies, as well as restaurant chains. This division recognizes flavor as a critical global business with distinctive capabilities, strong customer relationships, and growth potential. By connecting customer needs, consumer insights, and technical expertise across markets, the global flavor division will accelerate innovation and deliver differentiated solutions that create value for customers around the world.
The commercial divisions will be supported by robust functions, organized for growth, scale, and disciplined execution. These functions will drive global efficiency and deliver best-in-class processes and standards across the combined organization.
Following transaction closing, the combined company’s integration management office will remain in place, with a dedicated senior leadership team that will oversee the execution of key integration goals by each commercial division. The office will also focus on overseeing an efficient exit from transition services agreements (“TSAs”), which will generally last up to 24 months following transaction closing, as well as synergy realization and the development of a unified organizational culture.
As previously shared, McCormick plans to provide further detail on anticipated revenue and cost synergies, as well as the anticipated scope of the TSAs, by the end of the third quarter.
Secondary Listing and International Headquarters
To complement its existing NYSE listing, McCormick intends to seek a secondary listing and admission of its shares to trading on the London Stock Exchange at closing. This will facilitate capital flows and enhance overall liquidity for shareholders. This selection follows McCormick’s and Unilever’s commitment at transaction announcement to plan a secondary stock listing in Europe to reflect the global nature of Unilever’s current shareholder base.
As previously announced, the combined company will also have an international headquarters and maintain substantial presence in the Netherlands, where Unilever Foods has a long-standing presence and world-leading R&D capability that supports deep sector expertise.
McCormick will retain its primary stock listing on the New York Stock Exchange, and its global headquarters will remain in Hunt Valley, Md.