Colman’s is for sale. The English mustard brand, founded by Jeremiah Colman near Norwich in 1814, has been put on the block by Unilever, and the reason is a very large American deal. The BBC reports the move is being read as a way to clear competition concerns before Unilever combines its food business with McCormick, the US condiments group.
The numbers behind that merger are not small. Unilever announced in March that it would separate its Foods business and fold it into McCormick in a deal valuing the food operations at around $44.8bn, with Unilever and its investors taking a 65% stake in the combined company in a transaction reported at up to $48bn overall. The problem is that McCormick already owns French’s, one of the world’s biggest mustard brands, and a regulator looking at the combination would be entitled to squint hard at a merged firm holding both French’s and Colman’s.
A Unilever spokesperson confirmed the sale process, saying a decision had been taken to market the Colman’s brand and assets to potential buyers in order to proactively address potential competition concerns, and that discussions are ongoing while operations continue as usual. Sources close to the matter told Sky News, as reported by Sharecast, that Colman’s value to the group is not material, which is corporate for: we can live without it.
The UK competition angle is live. The Competition and Markets Authority issued an invitation for comments on the proposed Unilever-McCormick deal last month, and the window closed on 5 August. Selling Colman’s before the regulator even asks is a tactic with a long history. Companies prefer a tidy divestment they control to a remedy imposed on them, and Unilever has clearly done that arithmetic.
For the brand itself, this is genuinely interesting rather than sad. Colman’s is a heritage label with a Norfolk identity almost 250 years older than most of its competitors, and heritage food brands have been performing well in exactly the part of the market where a French’s owner would struggle to buy them. A private equity buyer or a mid-sized food group could take the name, keep the Norwich production story and push into the premium mustard aisle that American imports never quite cracked.
AJ Bell’s Dan Coatsworth put the sensible view, noting in the same coverage that corporate tie-ups are rarely a case of bolting two businesses together and running everything as normal. Jettisoning the non-core is standard practice. The interesting question is who thinks Colman’s is core. If the auction goes as planned, some buyer will decide a 19th century Norwich mill town brand belongs on their shelf next year, and the hottest condiment negotiation in Britain will be over a jar.