Ingredion, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, said Monday that its board had reached an agreement with Tate & Lyle’s board under which Ingredion will pay 595 pence for each Tate & Lyle share. The offer represents a 59% premium to the stock’s closing price before takeover talks were disclosed last month, according to a joint statement from the companies. Tate & Lyle’s directors unanimously intend to recommend the acquisition to shareholders, the companies said.
The deal values Tate & Lyle at about £2.7 billion ($3.6 billion). Shares in the FTSE 250 company rose as much as 12% to 552 pence in early trading Monday, according to The Guardian.
The companies said the combination could trigger a “material reduction” in Tate & Lyle’s workforce, representing about 475 jobs, or 3% of the new group’s headcount. “Any such workforce reduction would be implemented with the aim of combining the strengths and capabilities of both businesses,” they said in a joint statement. Tate & Lyle employs just under 5,000 people worldwide, with about 200 employees in the UK, most of whom work from its London headquarters. Ingredion employs about 11,000 people globally.
Tate & Lyle, one of the oldest listed companies in the UK, was historically best known for its sugar products. It sold its namesake sugar business to American Sugar Refining for £211 million in 2010 and pivoted to producing artificial sweeteners such as Splenda and specialty food ingredients. In 2024, it acquired CP Kelco, a U.S.-based leader in specialty gums and pectins, for $1.8 billion.
The company has struggled to impress investors in recent years, reporting weak consumer demand for its products despite the rising use of GLP-1 weight loss drugs. Prior to news of the deal, Tate & Lyle’s share price had lost more than half its value in five years.
Ingredion said the combined group would generate annual revenue of about $9.9 billion (£7.4 billion) and make adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of about $1.8 billion.
The takeover represents another loss for London’s stock market, which has suffered a series of high-profile exits in recent years. Several London-listed companies have agreed to take-private deals this year, including asset manager Schroders, insurer Beazley, and laboratory testing company Intertek.
Tate & Lyle Chair David Hearn said the company’s “next chapter with Ingredion will create a business with even greater potential, greater scale, and increased investment in innovation in support of customers.”
Jim Zallie, chair and chief executive of Ingredion, said: “Combining Ingredion and Tate & Lyle’s complementary portfolios creates a global leader in ingredient solutions with the expertise and geographic reach to help shape the future of food.”
The deal comes days after Ingredion’s larger U.S. rival International Flavors & Fragrances agreed to sell its food-ingredients division to buyout group CVC Capital Partners in a deal that valued the unit at $4.3 billion, including debt, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The S&P 500 closed at 7,584.31 on Monday, according to FRED data.