Tate & Lyle to Establish New Commercial and Food Innovation Center in Chicago

The new Centre will be the global headquarters of Tate & Lyle’s Innovation and Commercial Development group and the regional headquarters for the Speciality Food Ingredients business in North America.

Oct 20 2010 --- Tate & Lyle PLC announces that it is to establish a new Commercial and Food Innovation Centre in Chicago, Illinois.

In May 2010, Tate & Lyle announced the implementation of a new global organisational structure as part of its clear intention to focus, fix and grow its business. The establishment of this new Centre, bringing Tate & Lyle’s innovation group and speciality food ingredients business in North America together in a new, state-of-the-art facility in Chicago, with enhanced access to customers, represents the next logical step in the development of this new structure.

The new Centre will be the global headquarters of Tate & Lyle’s Innovation and Commercial Development group and the regional headquarters for the Speciality Food Ingredients business in North America. The Centre will also act as the base for those US employees with global responsibilities and, accordingly, the President of the Bulk Ingredients global business unit, and his support staff, will be located there. These groups are all currently located in Decatur, Illinois, and, therefore, employees from these groups in due course will be relocating to Chicago. In total, approximately 160 positions will be located in the new Centre.

The 110,000 square-foot, three-storey building, to be leased by Tate & Lyle and situated in the Hoffman Estates area of Chicago, will feature laboratories, a demonstration kitchen, and sensory testing, analytical and pilot plant facilities. The new Centre will be specifically designed to meet customers’ functional, formulation and nutritional needs and to accelerate the process of bringing new products to market.

The new Centre is expected to be operational by the end of 2011.

Tate & Lyle expects to recognise exceptional costs of up to US$32 million in connection with relocation and restructuring associated with this initiative, and capital expenditure of US$26 million in relation to the fit-out of the new Centre, both to be incurred largely in the year ending 31 March 2012.

Javed Ahmed, Chief Executive of Tate & Lyle said:

“Meeting our customers’ product development and innovation needs is at the very heart of our business. The new Commercial and Food Innovation Centre in Chicago will enable our scientists, marketing, sales and technical experts to collaborate more closely with our customers, and to respond rapidly to their needs for innovative food ingredients and solutions.

“Tate & Lyle’s clear priority is to grow its Speciality Food Ingredients business, supported by cash generated from Bulk Ingredients. This investment represents another important step in positioning Tate & Lyle to deliver on its strategic objectives as we focus, fix and grow our business.”