Linklaters and Hogan Lovells have scored lead roles in the £2.7bn takeover of Tate & Lyle by its US rival Ingredion, in a cash deal that marks another loss for London’s struggling stock market.
Linklaters is acting for Tate & Lyle, with the team led by global head of corporate Simon Branigan and corporate partner Lisa Chang, both of whom are based in London.
Linklaters has a longstanding relationship with the FTSE 250 business, acting for it in litigation stemming from the 2010 sale of its namesake sugar business to American Sugar Refining and the disposal of its primary products business, Primient, in the Americas in 2024. Chang and Branigan also co-led the Linklaters team that advised Tate & Lyle when it bought US-based CP Kelco for $1.8bn later in 2024, as it focused on producing artificial sweeteners and speciality food ingredients.
Meanwhile Hogan Lovells is acting for Ingredion, which makes sweeteners and starches, as well as ingredients used in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and papers. The team is led by London M&A partner Daniel Simons and global head of M&A Bill Curtin, who works out of New York and Washington DC. Curtin also advised Ingredion when it bought London-listed stevia sweeteners maker PureCircle for £185m in 2020 and on its joint venture with Californian biomanufacturing company Amyris in 2021.
The Chicago, Illinois-headquartered company’s acquisition of Tate & Lyle comes at a low point for the latter’s share price, which, before news of the deal, had lost more than half of its value in just five years.
Tate & Lyle shareholders will receive 595p per share in cash, a premium of nearly 59% to the last closing before talks became public in mid-May according to Reuters, plus 20p in dividends.
Ingredion’s chair and chief executive, Jim Zallie, 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.”
Tate & Lyle said the combined group would generate annual revenue of about $9.9bn (£7.4bn) and make adjusted profits of $1.8bn.
The deal values the British group at £3.8bn including debt and will end its 87-year listing in London, marking another loss of a high-profile company for the UK market.
Wise, Just Eat, Tui and BHP are among more than 150 companies that have left the London Stock Exchange or transferred their primary listings elsewhere since the beginning of 2024 according to Money Week, in a corporate exodus driven by delistings, private equity buyouts and migration to US markets for higher valuations and better liquidity.
The Linklaters team also includes antitrust and foreign investment partners Thomas McGrath, Natura Gracia and John Eichlin and employment and incentives partners Cara Hegarty and Sinead Casey.
Hogan Lovells partners Logan Breed and Lauren Battaglia, both based in Washington DC, are advising Ingredion on antitrust aspects. In Europe, partners Falk Schoening in Brussels and Angus Coulter in London are advising on antitrust aspects. Partner Rich Parrino in Washington DC is advising on securities disclosure aspects.
JP Morgan Securities is serving as financial advisor to Ingredion on the deal, counselled by an Addleshaw Goddard team led by corporate finance partner Simon Wood. Goldman Sachs International and Greenhill & Co International are serving as joint lead financial advisors to Tate & Lyle and Bank of America and Citi are serving as joint financial advisors and corporate brokers to Tate & Lyle.
The deal is expected to complete in the second half of 2027 and is subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions, including shareholder approval and regulatory clearances.
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