Jim Cramer on McCormick CEO: “I Didn’t Press Him on the Cost, Which Was Pretty High”

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) is among Jim Cramer’s recent stock calls as he urged investors to stand by the defense sector. Cramer discussed the company’s acquisition of food brands from Unilever, as he commented:

I want to contrast that with how I handled myself the previous day with Brendan Foley, the CEO of McCormick, the spice company. Brendan’s just done a gigantic deal with Unilever to buy Hellmann’s mayonnaise from them, among other brands. Wall Street clearly thought he paid too much because the stock cratered. Now, I disagreed. I thought it looked like a good deal, but looking back, I think I gave Brendan a free pass because I didn’t press him on the cost, which was pretty high.

Some would say outrageously high during an era where the packaged food space is under siege. I could hear Mark (the late Mark Haines, CNBC anchor) in my brain saying, how could you run those brands better than Unilever? Why did you give away so much of the company? I mean, these are the questions he would’ve asked with immediate follow-up if the questions weren’t satisfactory. He wasn’t there to make friends. He was there to see if the CEO knew what he was doing.

A woman reading and analyzing stock market data. Photo by Artem Podrez on Pexels

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) produces and sells spices, seasonings, condiments, and flavor products for consumers and food manufacturers.

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