Tate & Lyle might turn into the subsequent UK firm to fall to an abroad takeover provide, following stories that US non-public fairness agency Introduction Worldwide is making ready a bid for the group.
Shares in Tate & Lyle, which makes components akin to synthetic sweeteners, jumped as a lot as 13% on Wednesday after the Monetary Instances reported that Introduction was in “the early levels” of making ready a bid.
If a proposal comes, it could worth London-headquartered Tate & Lyle above its market worth of £2.8bn earlier than Introduction’s curiosity emerged, the FT stated. The corporate was valued at greater than £3bn after Wednesday’s surge within the share value.
A number of different London-listed corporations have already fallen to overseas patrons this yr. Packaging firm DS Smith was acquired by rival Worldwide Paper, cybersecurity agency Darktrace purchased by Thoma Bravo, and door and window components-maker Tyman snapped up by US rival Quanex.
Introduction, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, has made UK acquisitions earlier than. It acquired British defence firm Cobham in early 2020, and owned parcel group Evri (previously Hermes) from 2020 till this yr, when it bought it to Apollo World Administration.
Introduction’s curiosity comes as Tate & Lyle tries to tie up its personal takeover. In June it agreed to purchase US-based CP Kelco for $1.8bn ($1.4bn), so as to add to its speciality components enterprise and goal demand for plant-based merchandise. The deal was anticipated to shut by the tip of this yr.
Tate & Lyle, which now produces sweeteners and starches to be used in drinks, dairy merchandise, bakery items and soups, was created in 1921 by the merger of two rival sugar refiners, Henry Tate & Sons and Abram Lyle & Sons. It could actually hint its historical past again to 1859, when Tate shaped a partnership in Liverpool.
In 2010 it bought its historic sugar enterprise to American Sugar Refining (ASR) for £211m.
Introduction and Tate & Lyle declined to remark to the FT.
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