Tate & Lyle: From sugar barons in London's East End to US takeover

June 8 (Reuters) - Tate & Lyle on Monday agreed to a £2.7 billion ($3.6 billion) takeover in cash from U.S.-based Ingredion, marking a new chapter for one of Britain's oldest industrial names and creating a global food and beverage ingredients major.

Here is Tate & Lyle's journey from sugar refining in the mid‑19th century to its ingredients group structure now:

1859-1872

Henry Tate enters the sugar business, and his sons later establish Henry Tate & Sons refinery after the sugar business partnership ends.

1875

Henry Tate introduces cube sugar to Britain.   

1883

Abram Lyle & Sons start melting sugar about 1.5 miles away from Henry Tate & Sons' Thames Refinery in East London. 

1899

Henry Tate passes away.

1921

Henry Tate & Sons merges with Abram Lyle & Sons, forming Tate & Lyle and producing about half of Britain's sugar.

1937

Danish-born businessman Michael Kroyer Kielberg sells his Liverpool sugar refinery to Tate & Lyle in exchange for becoming a co-investor in its new West Indies sugar venture.

1938

Becomes a publicly listed company in London.

1953-1965

After Kielberg retires, Tate & Lyle acquires his company United Molasses and strengthens foothold in molasses trading.

1976

In partnership with researchers at Queen Elizabeth College, University of London, Tate & Lyle discovers sucralose, a no-calorie sweetener used to date. It was marketed as SPLENDA in partnership with McNeil Nutritionals.

1980s-1990s

Makes several deals to diversify its business beyond sugar and sweeteners.

Early 2000s

Embarks on programme to shed poorly performing assets.

Mid- to late-2000s  

Becomes sole manufacturer of SPLENDA, expands in speciality ingredients and trims down sugar refining and trading operations.

2010

Sells its sugar operations in the European Union to focus on its fast-growing food ingredients unit instead. The deal ends its long association with refined sugar production, but the Tate & Lyle Sugar name survives through licenses.

Early- to late- 2010s

Further sheds assets, builds up dietary fibres and sweeteners portfolio.   

2020 

Acquires Sweet Green Fields to strengthen its position as a provider of alternative sweeteners such as stevia.

2021

Sells controlling stake in its primary products commercial sweeteners unit, creating a new entity, Primient, to focus on healthier food and drinks.    

2024

Early in the year, sells remaining minority interest in Primient, and in June, acquires U.S.-based CP Kelco to boost its speciality ingredients business and tap demand for plant-based products.

Reports in October say private equity firm Advent prepares a takeover offer for Tate & Lyle that could value it above £2.8 billion in market capitalisation. However, no bid materialised.

May 14, 2026

U.S. food ingredients maker Ingredion says it is in talks with Tate & Lyle over a possible takeover.

June 8, 2026

Tate & Lyle and Ingredion agree on takeover.

($1 = £0.7504)

(Compiled by Neeshita Beura and Roshni Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)