Tate & Lyle Launch Venture Fund

25/07/06 A new venture capital fund, backed by Tate & Lyle, has been formally launched and will be led by Managing Partners Simon Barnes and David Atkinson. The limited partnership fund will invest in start-ups and expansion stage companies that reflect Tate & Lyle’s drive for strategic growth through next-generation food ingredients, as well as innovations in industrial ingredients, bio-materials and bio-fuels. The fund will have $45 million committed by Tate & Lyle at closing. It will be highly targeted and is looking to back 8 – 10 deals over several rounds of finance. Optimal investment sizes are between $2-5million.

Tate & Lyle has been developing food and industrial ingredients from renewable resources for over 80 years - processing corn, wheat and sugar into value added products around the world.  Tate & Lyle Ventures complements the Group’s existing research and development teams and Tate & Lyle’s commitment to build a bio-based future through new renewable consumer-focused products and technologies.

Simon Barnes and David Atkinson will make all investment decisions. Long-term fund strategy will be supported by a Tate & Lyle Advisory Board, giving the fund the ability to tap into Tate & Lyle’s expertise in the rapidly growing area of renewable ingredients.

Simon Barnes has six years’ experience in the venture capital industry, first with the London office of Atlas Venture and more recently with GIMV Venture Capital where he focused on early stage life sciences ventures. He has invested in a number of university spin outs including Renovo, the University of Manchester start up which recently floated on the London Stock Exchange.

Simon trained as a scientist and has a first class honours degree in Natural Sciences and a PhD in Plant Biochemistry from The University of Cambridge where he focused on sugar and starch production in plants. He spent two years as a NATO Research Fellow at The Rockefeller University in New York, before becoming Head of The Laboratory of Cotton Biotechnology in Singapore. He holds an MBA with Distinction from the Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London.

David Atkinson has held a number of senior management positions in the City, having had 14 years’ experience in equity research specifically focused on the food processing industry. David worked at SG Warburg Securities before joining NatWest Securities to head up the pan-European Food Producers research team. During his time in charge the team was consistently top-three ranked in the Extel and Institutional Investor buy-side surveys. David was appointed Managing Director and Head of European Research at NatWest Securities in 1996 and was a member of the Equities Management Commitee.
In 1998, David co-founded Stamford Partners, one of the leading investment banking firms providing M&A and strategic consulting services to the European food industry, where he further developed his extensive food industry network. Most recently, David has held several senior management positions in the equities operations of Banc of America Securities as well as providing consultancy services to HSBC and the VC industry.

Simon Barnes said, “The renewable ingredients focus of this fund reflects what is happening around us in our every day environment. Bio-science is finally coming to the fore as the world makes the shift to a renewable economy, where crops will provide everything from our nutritional needs to new forms of fuel and biomaterials. The independent structure of this fund means that we can leverage Tate & Lyle’s core expertise in helping us to build our portfolio whilst retaining the ability to exit deals at full value.”

David Atkinson added, “In addition, we are seeing a real change in consumer attitudes towards health and nutrition and in particular the growing acceptance of functional foods. Food and healthcare are moving closer together. Busy lives and an ageing population mean that consumers are beginning to look to food to offer lifestyle solutions and bring added benefits such as vitamin fortification and enrichment. New technologies will be instrumental in this convergence as the world’s major food companies reposition themselves with a focus on innovation and health.”
Mark Robinson, Head of Mergers & Acquisitions, Tate & Lyle (who will chair the fund’s Advisory Board) said, “Together, Simon and David are uniquely positioned to provide an interface with the food, science and investment community. With combined experience in start-ups, venture capital, food sector analysis, and corporate finance - they bring together skills, experience and contacts that take us all the way from early stage investments through to creating successful renewable ingredients businesses.”