Unilever and McCormick & Co. have decided to look for a buyer for the UK group’s Colman’s mustard.

Ahead of the planned deal to combine the bulk of Unilever’s food business with McCormick, the Colman’s brand is going on the block.

“A decision has been taken to market the Colman’s brand and assets to potential buyers in order to proactively seek to address potential competition concerns from the planned combination of Unilever Foods and McCormick,” the FMCG giant said in a statement today (27 August).

The companies announced their transaction, which valued the Unilever food assets at around $44.8bn, in March.

The deal will house Unilever brands including Knorr and Hellmann’s with McCormick products such as Schwartz spices and French’s mustard.

Under the terms of the transaction, Unilever and its investors are to receive a mix of McCormick’s existing voting and non-voting common stock, equating to 65% of the combined business.

When the deal is closed, Unilever shareholders are expected to own 55.1% of the enlarged group, McCormick shareholders 35% and Unilever 9.9%. The London-listed major will also receive $15.7bn in cash, subject to certain closing adjustments.

At the time, Unilever, which has been retreating from food for a number of years, said the deal was “another decisive step to reshape Unilever into a simpler, sharper, higher growth company”.

McCormick said the new company is “expected to benefit from expanded global reach, enhanced scale across retail and foodservice channels and greater resources to invest in innovation, brand-building and global distribution”.

The combined company will be led by McCormick CEO Brendan Foley and CFO Marcos Gabriel, with “senior management representation” from Unilever’s food business.

The deal excludes Unilever’s foods assets in India, Nepal and Portugal. It also does not take in the group’s lifestyle nutrition business, the company’s Buavita unit and its Lipton ready-to-drink operations – and now, apparently, Colman’s.