McCormick to Seek London Listing Following Tie-Up with Unilever Foods — Update

By Aimee Look

McCormick said it would seek a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange following a looming merger with Unilever's foods business.

The maker of spices and seasonings said Thursday that the London listing would come in addition to its current listing on the New York Stock Exchange. The proposed combination with Unilever's foods business--expected to create a company valued at more than $65 billion, including debt--should close by mid-2027, McCormick said.

For Unilever, the deal with U.S.-headquartered McCormick is part of a major strategy shift to home in on beauty, personal-care and home products. But the combination of foods businesses had left some investors in London-based Unilever leery of holding shares in a large publicly traded U.S. food company, analysts have said.

For McCormick investors, the deal means that they could go from holding a snug spice-and-flavor company to holding a stake in an expansive foods behemoth. When the proposed deal between Unilever and McCormick was announced, shares in both companies fell around 5%.

The decision from McCormick to push for a London listing aims to facilitate capital flows and bolster liquidity for shareholders, McCormick said. The combined company also plans to international headquarters and maintain substantial presence in the Netherlands, where Unilever has deep roots.

Also on Thursday, McCormick said it reorganized its business around four commercial divisions for the combined company--Americas consumer, international consumer, global food service and global flavor. This marks a split in the consumer business into two geographic divisions.

Write to Aimee Look at aimee.look@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 23, 2026 07:59 ET (11:59 GMT)