McCormick announced a secondary listing for the company in London, following its merger with Unilever’s Foods business.
New Structure for the Merged Company
McCormick is set to restructure into four divisions. These are the Americas Consumer, International Consumer, Global Food Service, and Global Flavour segments. The Consumer segment will combine retail sales of herbs, seasonings, cooking aids, and sauces. It will be organized into two geographic divisions that reflect the scale of the business. The Global Food Service division offers a wide range of flavour products to operators of restaurants and out-of-home channels. The Global Flavour segment provides customised specialty flavours, seasonings, condiments, and coatings to global food, beverage, and consumer health companies as well as restaurant chains.
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According to the business, these new commercial segments will be backed by functions organized for company growth. The functions aim to drive global efficiency and deliver the best-in-class processes across the merged business. The company has made executive leadership appointments to represent a balanced blend of seniors drawn from both Unilever Foods and McCormick. After the transaction, the company’s combined integration management office will remain in place with a team that will oversee the executive of key goals within each commercial division. The move is expected by mid-2027 and comes as the business seeks to grow its global presence and operations.
The Consumer segment will consist of the combined company’s retail sales of herbs, seasonings, cooking aids and sauces, which will be organised into two geographic divisions. This structure aims to enhance the company’s reach and strengthen its global brands while pushing towards innovation and product development capabilities. The Global Food Service will offer a wide range of flavour products to operators of restaurants and out-of-home channels and is estimated to have $4bn in 2025 in annual sales. The Global flavour segment will provide customers with customised speciality flavours, seasonings, condiments and coatings to global food, beverage and consumer health companies.
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Leadership Perspective
McCormick’s chairman, president and CEO Brendan Foley stated: “Our significant progress to date reflects 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 flavour leader. Our planned operating model is designed to place consumers and customers of the combined business, enabling disciplined execution, enhanced innovation, and sustainable long-term growth, while supporting a rewarding employee experience.”
By listing in London, McCormick gains access to European investors while keeping its primary listing in New York. The dual listing strategy is a common practice for large global corporations seeking to diversify their shareholder base. This separation of assets allows for distinct valuation metrics for different regional markets. While the New York exchange offers deep liquidity for U.S.-centric investors, the London listing provides a gateway to the broader European market, which is a significant region for the food and beverage industry. This geographical diversification often helps stabilize stock prices by reducing exposure to regional economic fluctuations.
