London, 1 April 2026 – Global law firm Hogan Lovells has advised McCormick & Company, Incorporated, a global leader in flavour and a leading food company, on its agreement with Unilever PLC to acquire Unilever Foods, creating a global flavour-focused business. The transaction is expected to close by mid-2027, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.
The transaction will see McCormick combine with Unilever’s food business to create a leading global food and flavour company, bringing together two highly complementary portfolios of iconic brands, significant scale, and strong growth prospects. The deal represents one of the largest global food sector transactions in recent years, reflecting an enterprise value of US$44.8 billion for Unilever Foods.
Partner Tom Brassington said: “This is a transformative transaction for McCormick and a defining deal for the global food industry. We were very proud to support McCormick on a matter of this scale and complexity.”
The Hogan Lovells team was led by London- based M&A partners Tom Brassington and Caitlin Weeks, with support from Antitrust partner Alice Wallace-Wright and tax partner Philip Harle.
The wider team provided comprehensive, multi- jurisdictional legal advice to McCormick on the transaction, drawing upon the firm’s deep experience in M&A, Antitrust, Data, Privacy & Cybersecurity, Employment, ESI, Intellectual Property, Pensions, Regulatory, Tax, Finance, and Commercial matters.
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