8th Oct 2007 16:22
Tate & Lyle agrees sale of Mexican sugar business Tate & Lyle PLC ("Tate & Lyle") announces that its Mexican subsidiary ("Tate &Lyle Mexico") has signed an agreement for the sale of its 49% shareholding inGrupo Industrial Azucarero de Occidente, S.A. de C.V. ("Occidente") to E D & FMan Holdings Limited ("E D & F Man"). Occidente operates three sugar mills inMexico. E D & F Man's right to acquire Tate & Lyle Mexico's 49% interest inOccidente is subject to Occidente's majority shareholder's option to acquire 1%of those shares. If such option is exercised then E D & F Man would acquire a48% interest in Occidente. On completion, Tate & Lyle will receive a consideration of US$93 million (£46million). The consideration will be used to reduce Group debt. The sale of Occidente is conditional upon clearance under the Mexican FederalEconomic Competition Law. Completion is expected by early December. At 31 March 2007 Tate & Lyle's share of the net operating assets of Occidentewas £42 million. Tate & Lyle's share of the operating profit for the year to 31March 2007 was £6 million. Iain Ferguson, Chief Executive, Tate & Lyle said, "Last week, we announced thecompletion of the sale of our European wheat starch plants, eliminating ourdirect exposure to the European wheat market which has been particularlyvolatile in recent months. Today, we are announcing the sale of our interest inOccidente, our Mexican cane sugar business. Both these transactions representimportant steps in our strategy of reshaping our business to reduce the impactof our exposure to volatile raw material and commodity markets as we build astronger value added business. I would like to take this opportunity to thankthe employees of Occidente for their commitment and hard work over the years,and our former partners in Mexico for their constant support, and wish them allevery future success." END CONTACTS: Tate & Lyle PLCJohn Nicholas, Group Finance DirectorTel: +44(0)20 7626 6525 Ferne Hudson, Head of Media and Public RelationsTel: +44(0)20 7626 6525 or Mobile: +44 (0)7713 067433 E D & F Man Holdings LimitedSimon Mitchell, Director, Man Sugar LimitedTel: +44(0)20 7089 8000 About Tate & Lyle: Tate & Lyle is a world leading manufacturer of renewable food and industrialingredients. It uses innovative technology to transform corn and sugar intovalue-added ingredients for customers in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical,cosmetic, paper, packaging and building industries. The Company is a leader incereal sweeteners and starches, sugar refining, value added food and industrialingredients, and citric acid. Tate & Lyle is the world number-one in industrialstarches and is the sole manufacturer of SPLENDA(R) Sucralose. Headquartered in London, Tate & Lyle is listed on the London Stock Exchangeunder the symbol TATE.L. In the US its ADRs trade under TATYY. The Companyoperates more than 50 production facilities throughout Europe, the Americas andSouth East Asia. In the year to 31 March 2007, it employed 6,900 people in itssubsidiaries with a further 2,300 employed in joint ventures. Sales in the yearto 31 March 2007 totalled £4.0 billion. Additional information can be found onhttp://www.tateandlyle.com. SPLENDA(R) is a trademark of McNeil Nutritionals, LLC Copyright Business Wire 2007Related Shares:
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