Key facts
- Ingredion Inc. has agreed to acquire UK-based Tate & Lyle Plc.
- The acquisition price is £2.7 billion ($3.6 billion).
- The deal signifies Tate & Lyle's exit from the London stock market.
- Tate & Lyle has a history dating back to sugar refining in the mid-19th century.
U.S.-based Ingredion Inc. has agreed to acquire the historic UK food and beverage ingredients company Tate & Lyle Plc for £2.7 billion ($3.6 billion). This transaction marks a significant moment for Tate & Lyle, one of Britain's oldest industrial names, signaling its departure from the London stock market. The company's journey began in the mid-19th century with sugar refining. Henry Tate and Abram Lyle established separate sugar businesses in East London, which later merged in 1921 to form Tate & Lyle, becoming a dominant force in the UK sugar market. Over the decades, Tate & Lyle diversified, notably discovering sucralose in 1976 and later focusing on speciality ingredients. The company sold its sugar operations in the European Union in 2010 and has since continued to divest assets and build its portfolio in areas like dietary fibres and alternative sweeteners, including the acquisition of Sweet Green Fields in 2020 and CP Kelco in 2024. In 2021, it sold a controlling stake in its primary products commercial sweeteners unit, creating a new entity called Primient. Reports in October indicated that private equity firm Advent was preparing a takeover offer for Tate & Lyle, potentially valuing it above £2.8 billion, but no bid materialized.