Tate & Lyle is in talks with US ingredients giant Ingredion over a possible £2.7bn takeover, following years of restructuring at the historic British food ingredients business.

The company confirmed that Ingredion had made a conditional proposal for the entire issued and to-be-issued share capital of Tate & Lyle, valuing shares at up to 615p each.

The offer would comprise 595p per share in cash, alongside the right for shareholders to receive dividends of up to 20p per share. Tate & Lyle said the proposal followed “a number of earlier approaches” from Ingredion.

The deal would value Tate & Lyle at around £2.7bn and represents a 64 per cent premium to the company’s closing share price before the approach became public.

However, Tate & Lyle stressed that talks remain ongoing and there is no certainty that a firm offer will be made. Ingredion has until 5pm on 11 June 2026 to either announce a firm intention to make an offer or walk away under UK takeover rules.

The approach comes after a long period of strategic change for Tate & Lyle, which has moved away from its sugar heritage to focus on speciality food and beverage ingredients.

The business sold its EU sugar refining operations, including the Lyle’s Golden Syrup brand, to American Sugar Refining in 2010, ending its historic connection with refined sugar production.

It later sold a controlling stake in its Primary Products business in North America and Latin America to KPS Capital Partners, creating Primient, as part of a push to become a more focused speciality ingredients group.

More recently, Tate & Lyle completed its combination with CP Kelco in November 2024, adding pectin, speciality gums and nature-based ingredients to its portfolio. The deal also left Huber as a significant shareholder in the business, with around 16 per cent of Tate & Lyle’s share capital.

The transformation has been designed to position Tate & Lyle closer to growth areas such as sugar reduction, fibre enrichment, texture, mouthfeel and healthier reformulation.

However, the group has faced pressure from weaker demand, cost headwinds and investor concern over the pace of returns from its strategy. Its share price had fallen sharply before the takeover approach, making the company a more attractive target for overseas buyers.

A combination with Ingredion would create a larger global food ingredients business at a time when major food and drink manufacturers are under growing pressure to reformulate products, improve nutrition profiles and respond to changing consumer attitudes around health.

Tate & Lyle is due to publish its full-year results for the year ended 31 March 2026 on 21 May.

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