March 20 (Reuters) - Unilever ( UL ) is in talks to

sell its foods business to smaller rival McCormick & Company ( MKC )

, a potential deal that would unite the British company's

Hellmann's and Knorr brands with the U.S. spice maker's Cholula

hot sauce.

Analysts at Barclays estimated the enterprise value of

Unilever's ( UL ) food division, which has been growing more slowly

than the company's overall business, at between 28 billion euros

($32.40 billion) and 31 billion euros.

McCormick's ( MKC ) market capitalization is about $14.5 billion,

much smaller than the potential value of Unilever's ( UL ) food

business, with analysts signaling a possible Reverse Morris

Trust transaction- a tax-free deal in which one company merges

with a spun-off unit.

Here are some reactions to the potential deal:

ROBERT MOSKOW, ANALYST AT TD COWEN

"We see strong strategic logic for the combination and

significant opportunities for synergies."

"This transaction creates an opportunity for McCormick ( MKC ) to

completely transform its business in terms of scale,

international reach, and importance to retailers."

CHRIS BECKETT, CONSUMER STAPLES ANALYST AT QUILTER CHEVIOT,

A UNILEVER INVESTOR

"To gain scale in food, (McCormick ( MKC ) has) been a relatively

acquisitive management team... they've done well with the brands

that they've acquired."

"I think the McCormick ( MKC ) management team have shown that they

can manage food brands well, and I think they could manage a

bigger business well."

"To try and get a deal that is giving Unilever ( UL ) a premium to

make up for the dis-synergies at the same time making it work

for McCormick's ( MKC ) shareholders, I think, is probably going to be

the difficult bit."

JACK MARTIN, INVESTMENT DIRECTOR AT OBERON INVESTMENTS, A

UNILEVER INVESTOR

"As the slowest growing of the four remaining divisions by

some distance... it makes sense to sell the food division."

"The mooted value of the food business at a standalone

venture is a significant chunk of Unilever's ( UL ) current market cap,

so achieving an attractive deal on the sale is the key thing."

($1 = 0.8643 euros)

(Reporting by Richa Naidu, Yadarisa Shabong and Alexander

Marrow, compiled by Neil J Kanatt; Editing by Devika Syamnath)