Tate & Lyle appoints Jeffrey Carr to board amid concerns over Tereos UK sugar business acquisition 

UK – Tate & Lyle, a leading global provider of food and beverage ingredients, has announced the appointment of Jeffrey Carr as a non-executive director, effective April 1, 2024. 

Carr, currently the Chief Financial Officer of Reckitt Benckiser Group plc and a non-executive director of Kingfisher plc, brings over thirty years of international financial experience to the Tate & Lyle Board. 

David Hearn, Chair of Tate & Lyle, expressed his enthusiasm for Carr’s addition, stating, “His financial, strategic, and operational leadership experience will be of significant benefit to the Board as we deliver on the Company’s growth agenda.” 

The announcement comes at a period when the sale of Tereos’ UK sugar business to Tate & Lyle Sugars (TLS) has raised concerns about potential impacts on competition and consumer prices.  

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), in its preliminary investigation, noted that the deal may result in “a substantial lessening of competition” and identified potential consequences for sugar prices in the UK. 

Sorcha O’Carroll, Senior Director of Mergers at the CMA, highlighted the key issue, stating, “This deal would bring together two of the three players in the UK sugar sector, reducing competition and choice further for people and businesses.”  

The antitrust authority emphasized that the merged entities, Tate & Lyle Sugars and Tereos, would face limited competition in the market, potentially leading to higher prices for retailers, and subsequently, consumers. 

Tate & Lyle Sugars and Tereos now have a five-day window to address the concerns raised by the CMA. If they fail to do so, the investigation will proceed to the second phase.  

O’Carroll emphasized, “It’s now up to TLS and Tereos to find a way to address our competition concerns to avoid the deal being referred to an in-depth Phase 2 investigation.” 

The Tereos UK and Ireland branch, TUKI, currently packing and distributing sugar products, could see changes in its operations due to the acquisition.  

T&L Sugars, a subsidiary of ASR Group International, markets sugar and sweetener products under the Tate and Lyle brand. The acquisition’s financial details, including the transaction between Tereos and T&L Sugars, were not disclosed. 

The CMA initiated the investigation earlier this year following Tereos’s sale of its Normanton site to T&L Sugars in November 2023.  

Despite concerns, Tereos expressed satisfaction with the acquisition, emphasizing that it would secure the future of employees and maintain quality and services in the UK B2C market. The UK and Ireland operations will continue under the TUKI name post-transaction. 

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