Tate & Lyle takeover proves sweet for private equity

Tate & Lyle has proved an enticing morsel for private-equity group KPS Capital Partners, which is buying part of its operations. Matthew Partridge reports

Strawberry covered in sugar
This is a tasty deal for the buyer
(Image credit: © Getty Images/iStockphoto)

In the “latest swoop by private equity on a British company”, Tate & Lyle (T&L) has agreed to sell 50% of its “primary products” division to private-equity group KPS Capital Partners for $1.3bn (£940m), says Hannah Boland in The Daily Telegraph.

The division makes corn-based sweeteners and industrial starches, and currently accounts for most of Tate & Lyle’s £2.9bn annual sales. While Tate & Lyle will own half of the equity in the new company, KPS will have board and operational control of the venture.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

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