McCormick & Company could soon add the food arm of a British conglomerate in a move that would have major ramifications for the 137-year-old Hunt Valley-headquartered company.

Unilever, a publicly traded consumer goods giant, said Friday that the world’s largest spice manufacturer had made an offer for its many food brands. The company owns Hellmann’s Mayonnaise and Marmite spread, among dozens of others.

McCormick is one of the Baltimore area’s largest companies, generating $6.8 billion in revenue last year, but Unilever’s foods business is even more robust. Unilever’s myriad brands posted about $67 billion in revenue last year; of that, roughly $17 billion was from food.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the talks. When a deal could come together and what precisely it would mean for McCormick is unclear. Both sides did not reveal how the deal might be financed and cautioned in statements that there is no guarantee any agreement would be finalized.

A potential deal would diversify McCormick’s already extensive portfolio of brands. Aside from its spices, including Old Bay, the company also owns brands like French’s Mustard, and Frank’s RedHot and Cholula hot sauces.

In a note Friday, TD Cowen analysts said that McCormick executives have long hoped to acquire some of Unilever’s brands. This transaction would create an “international powerhouse,” analysts wrote.

The bulk of McCormick’s sales are in the U.S., and this deal would deepen its global foothold.

“This transaction creates an opportunity for McCormick to completely transform its business in terms of scale, international reach, and importance to retailers,” TD Cowen‘s Robert Moskow said.

Unilever has been focusing more on its beauty and personal care brands, like Dove, in recent years. It spun off its ice cream business, including Ben & Jerry’s, last year.

Large food companies have recently struggled, but McCormick has sought to differentiate itself.

“We’re not competing for calories. We’re flavoring them,” the company’s president and CEO, Brendan M. Foley, often says.

Still, the publicly held McCormick has been battered by tariffs. Its stock price has dropped more than 30% over the past year. (Its value did not significantly change immediately following news of the Unilever talks.)

Foley noted the “challenging cost environment” in a recent newsletter to shareholders but highlighted McCormick’s “strength and resilience.”

The company reported slight revenue growth last year but noted in federal filings that its earnings per share — a unit of profitability — came in “below target.” Foley was paid essentially the same amount last year as the year prior, receiving $10.8 million in compensation.