Tate & Lyle confirms plans to sell controlling stake in sweeteners unit

Tate & Lyle on Monday confirmed reports it was planning to sell a controlling stake in its primary products division to a “long term financial partner”.

The 100-year-old firm said it believes that if a deal was completed it would enable Tate & Lyle and the new business “to focus their respective strategies and capital allocation priorities and create the opportunity for enhanced shareholder value”.

“Discussions with potential new partners in the Primary Products business are at an early stage and therefore there can be no certainty that a transaction will be concluded,” the company said in a statement.

The primary products division, which took £1.8bn in revenue last year, makes commodities like artificial sweeteners and industrial starches.

Reports suggested a stake sale could be worth up to £1.2bn and that US private equity giants Apollo Global Management and Cerberus had held talks with Tate & Lyle over the sale.