Unilever is in talks to combine its food business with the US-based spice and seasoning maker McCormick, state recent reports.
The Anglo-Dutch food company, which last year spun off its ice-cream division, the home to Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum and Wall’s – has entered discussions over the future of the “highly attractive” business.
Unilever is valued at almost £100bn, and its food unit could be worth tens of billions of pounds. Some of the brands owned by Unilever are Marmite, Dove, Knorr and Hellmann’s mayonnaise.
McCormick, which owns brands including French’s yellow mustard, Old Bay seasoning and Cholula hot sauce, is valued at about $15bn (£11bn).
“Unilever confirms that it has received an inbound offer for its foods business and is in discussions with McCormick & Company,” the Marmite maker said in a statement.
“The board believes foods is a highly attractive business, with a strong financial profile led by market-leading brands in growing categories and is confident in the future of the foods business as part of Unilever.
"There can be no certainty that any transaction will be agreed.”
Reports were also buzz that Unilever had previously held talks with Kraft Heinz to combine their food operations. Unilever has also disposed of brands including The Vegetarian Butcher and the healthy snacking brand Graze.
Earlier this year, Fernando Fernández, the chief executive of Unilever, said the company was looking to shift away from food. “We are really shifting our portfolio into more beauty, more wellbeing, more personal care,” he told a conference in New York.