European Event-Driven Analyst

Jesus Rodriguez Aguilar

Jesús is an Insight Provider (Event-driven) on the Smartkarma network, where he looks across sectors at opportunities arising from securities mispricing (both credit and equity), share classes, bid announcements, prospective bids, and special situations. He has served as Economic and Business Advisor at the Spanish Congress in Madrid. Prior to that, he has worked in the City of London: as a Credit Analyst at Bloomberg; Event-driven associate at former boutique European Research; and doubled as Special Situations and Equity-linked VP (convertible bonds) at Merrill Lynch. Jesús has an MBA from the London Business School, a BA (Hons.) degree in Economics from the Complutense University in Madrid, and a BA (Hons.) in Law from U.N.E.D., also in Madrid.

Unilever: Cooking Up Value — But Not Serving It All Yet

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>Both Unilever and McCormick &amp; Company have de-rated post-announcement, with price action suggesting the market is focused on execution risk rather than headline transaction valuation.</li>
<li>The deal implies ~13.8x EBITDA and $15.7bn cash proceeds, but consideration is split between realised value and retained exposure, leaving part of the economics dependent on future execution.</li>
<li>Initial de-risking appears largely complete, but the absence of re-risking suggests a gap between current pricing and underlying value that may take time to close.</li>
</ul>


Both Unilever and McCormick &amp; Company have de-rated post-announcement, with price action suggesting the market is focused on execution risk rather than headline transaction valuation.
The deal implies ~13.8x EBITDA and $15.7bn cash proceeds, but consideration is split between realised value and retained exposure, leaving part of the economics dependent on future execution.
Initial de-risking appears largely complete, but the absence of re-risking suggests a gap between current pricing and underlying value that may take time to close.


Unilever: Both Sides De-Rating — The Market Is Pricing Execution, Not Value