Tate & Lyle to Sell EU sugar operations for 211 million pounds
1 July 2010 – Tate & Lyle has sold its EU sugar refining operations to American Sugar Refining for £211 in cash to focus on its Speciality Food Ingredients segment. The money will be used to reduce Tate & Lyle’s net debt, which stood at £814 million on 31 March 2010.
Javed Ahmed, chief executive of Tate & Lyle says, “Sugar refining has enjoyed a long and proud history within Tate & Lyle, but we believe the interests of this business and its employees are now best served by being part of a company for whom sugar refining is core. Tate & Lyle’s clear priority is to grow its Speciality Food Ingredients business, supported by cash generated from Bulk Ingredients.”
The operations that American Sugar Refining will acquire comprise the cane-sugar refineries in London and Lisbon, Lyle’s Golden Syrup factory in London, the associated sugar and syrup brands and the Tate & Lyle process technology consulting business.
In the year ended 31 March 2010, these businesses had external sales of £689 million and made an adjusted operating profit of £14 million (after transitional aid of £17 million), and had gross assets of £374 million. The completion of the transaction, which is conditional upon anti-trust clearance in Portugal, is expected to occur in approximately two months.
Tate & Lyle has provided American Sugar Refining, Inc. with a perpetual worldwide licence to use the Tate & Lyle brand in connection with the retail sale of sugar and in other limited circumstances.
Tate & Lyle also announces the launch of processes to sell the remaining businesses within the Sugars division, principally Molasses and Vietnamese sugar.
