Tate & Lyle on June 8 agreed to be acquired by U.S.-based Ingredion for £2.7 billion ($3.6 billion) in cash, a transaction that brings one of Britain’s oldest industrial names under the control of a U.S. food ingredients group. The deal completes a long transformation of the company from mid-19th century sugar refiners in East London into a modern ingredients business focused on speciality sweeteners, dietary fibres and plant-based solutions.
The company’s origins trace to Henry Tate, who entered the sugar trade between 1859 and 1872. His sons later established the Henry Tate & Sons refinery after a partnership in the sugar business ended. In 1875 Henry Tate introduced cube sugar to Britain. Nearby, in 1883 Abram Lyle & Sons began melting sugar roughly 1.5 miles from the Thames Refinery operated by Henry Tate & Sons.
Key early milestones:
- 1899 - Henry Tate died.
- 1921 - Henry Tate & Sons merged with Abram Lyle & Sons to form Tate & Lyle, a group that produced about half of Britain’s sugar at the time.
- 1937 - Danish-born businessman Michael Kroyer Kielberg sold his Liverpool sugar refinery to Tate & Lyle in return for a co-investor role in a new West Indies sugar venture.
- 1938 - Tate & Lyle became a publicly listed company in London.
- 1953-1965 - Following Kielberg’s retirement, Tate & Lyle acquired his company United Molasses, strengthening its position in molasses trading.
Another pivotal development came in 1976 when, working with researchers at Queen Elizabeth College, University of London, Tate & Lyle discovered sucralose, a no-calorie sweetener. That compound was later marketed as SPLENDA through a partnership with McNeil Nutritionals.
From the 1980s into the 1990s the company executed a series of deals designed to diversify beyond the core sugar and sweeteners businesses. In the early 2000s Tate & Lyle started a programme to dispose of underperforming assets. By the mid- to late-2000s the firm was the sole manufacturer of SPLENDA, was expanding its footprint in speciality ingredients, and was reducing its sugar refining and trading operations.
The strategic pivot accelerated in 2010 when Tate & Lyle sold its sugar operations in the European Union to concentrate on a fast-growing food ingredients division. That transaction ended the company’s long operational association with refined sugar production, although the Tate & Lyle Sugar name continued under licence arrangements.
Across the following decade the group continued to streamline and build capability in areas such as dietary fibres and sweeteners. In 2020 Tate & Lyle acquired Sweet Green Fields to bolster its alternative sweeteners offering, particularly stevia. In 2021 it sold a controlling stake in its primary products commercial sweeteners unit, creating a new business called Primient focused on healthier food and drink ingredients.
In 2024 Tate & Lyle completed several portfolio moves: early in the year it sold its remaining minority interest in Primient, and in June acquired U.S.-based CP Kelco to deepen its speciality ingredients capability and to capture demand for plant-based products. Reports in October of that year noted private equity firm Advent was preparing a takeover approach that could have implied a valuation above £2.8 billion, although no bid ultimately materialised.
On May 14, 2026 Ingredion disclosed it was in talks with Tate & Lyle over a possible takeover. Those discussions culminated on June 8, 2026 in a definitive agreement for a cash acquisition valued at £2.7 billion ($3.6 billion). For reference within market reporting the conversion used is $1 = £0.7504.
The transaction marks a significant ownership change for a company whose identity has shifted repeatedly across more than a century and a half - from East End sugar refiners to a global ingredients business focused on sweeteners, fibres and speciality applications. The deal also consolidates Ingredion’s position in the global food and beverage ingredients market by combining the two companies’ complementary portfolios and capabilities.
Context and implications
For investors and market participants the agreement represents the latest stage in Tate & Lyle’s long-term repositioning away from commodity sugar and toward higher-margin, speciality ingredients. The deal price, structure and future integration plans will determine the immediate financial impact on shareholders and the combined group's strategic profile.