Tate & Lyle agrees £2.7 billion takeover by Ingredion

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Tate & Lyle agrees Ingredion takeover

Highlights

Tate & Lyle agreed to a £2.7 billion ($3.6 billion) all-cash takeover by Ingredion, consolidating the two food and beverage ingredients companies.
Tate & Lyle accelerated its shift from sugar by selling its remaining Primient stake and acquiring CP Kelco in June 2024 to expand specialty ingredients.
Previous takeover interest included Advent considering a bid above £2.8 billion in late 2023, but only Ingredion proceeded with a formal offer.

Takeover agreement caps long corporate shift

As reported by Reuters, the agreement follows Ingredion's statement on May 14, 2026 that it was in talks with Tate & Lyle over a possible takeover. The cash deal announced on Monday values Tate & Lyle at £2.7 billion, or $3.6 billion, and sets up the creation of a larger global food and beverage ingredients company.

Tate & Lyle's roots go back to the mid-19th century, when Henry Tate entered the sugar business and later established Henry Tate & Sons after a partnership ended. Abram Lyle & Sons began melting sugar nearby in East London in 1883, and the two businesses merged in 1921 to form Tate & Lyle, at one point producing about half of Britain's sugar.

The company later broadened beyond sugar. It listed in London in 1938, expanded its molasses position after acquiring United Molasses, and in 1976 discovered sucralose with researchers at Queen Elizabeth College, University of London, a sweetener later marketed as SPLENDA.

Ingredients strategy reshapes the business

From the 1980s onward, Tate & Lyle pursued diversification through acquisitions and disposals, with a stronger push in the early 2000s to exit weaker assets. By 2010 it had sold its European Union sugar operations, ending its direct association with refined sugar production and sharpening its focus on faster-growing food ingredients.

That repositioning continued through the 2010s and 2020s as the group built its dietary fibres and sweeteners portfolio. It bought Sweet Green Fields in 2020 to strengthen alternative sweeteners, created Primient in 2021 through the sale of a controlling stake in its primary products commercial sweeteners unit, then sold its remaining minority interest in Primient in 2024 and acquired U.S.-based CP Kelco in June that year to expand in specialty ingredients and plant-based demand.

Takeover interest had surfaced before the Ingredion deal. Reports in October said private equity firm Advent was preparing an offer that could have valued Tate & Lyle above £2.8 billion in market capitalisation, but no bid emerged.

Our earlier report on Ingredion’s talks to buy Tate & Lyle outlined an expected £2.7 billion takeover approach priced at 615 pence per share, combining cash and potential dividends. We also noted the roughly 25% premium implied by the offer and how a tie-up could create a food and beverage ingredients group valued at more than $10 billion as demand rises for lower-calorie and reformulated products.

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