Booker-Tate sells off EU refineries to US

Jul 18, 2010 News

Tate and Lyle, a British company involved in the Caribbean sugar industry for decades, has sold its refinery operations to the US, the company has announced, bringing an end to an era during which the company dominated the business in the region and in Europe.

Tate and Lyle, known in Guyana as “Booker-Tate”, was involved in the management of the local sugar industry until a few months ago, before the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) fired its representatives for mismanagement, among other things.

In severing the contract, GuySuCo said that it is withholding monies owed to the company as Guyana attempts to assess the damage as a result of Booker Tate’s mismanagement.

Booker-Tate was involved in managing the construction of the multi-million new, state-of-the-art factory at Skeldon which although handed over to Guyana, is still fraught with problems.

Recently, a former Booker-Tate official, Errol Hanoman, who served as Chief Executive for the past year, after being retained, has resigned. According to the Tate and Lyle website, the company’s decision to sell its sugar refineries to US is to “focus” on other areas of business.

The sale agreement was signed on July 1, with the American Sugar Refining, Inc.

“The consideration is £211 million payable in cash, subject to closing adjustments for net cash and working capital, with the proceeds used to reduce Tate and Lyle’s net debt, the company said in a statement.”

On May 27, 2010, Tate and Lyle announced its clear intentions to “focus, fix and grow its business. Today’s announcement is fully consistent with those intentions and will result in a more focused, less volatile business, and a solid platform to deliver sustainable long-term growth in Speciality Food Ingredients, supported by cash generated from Bulk Ingredients.”

EU consists of the cane sugar refineries in London, UK, and Lisbon, Portugal, the Lyle’s Golden Syrup factory in London, UK, the associated sugar and syrup brands and the Tate & Lyle Process Technology consulting business.

In the year ended March 31, 2010, the businesses had external sales of £689 million and made an adjusted operating profit of £14 million (after transitional aid of £17 million). It also had gross assets of £374 million as at March 31, 2010.

The sale excludes historic UK pension assets and liabilities and is expected to give rise to a book loss on disposal, before costs, of approximately £55 million, subject to exchange rate movements and the timing of completion.

The completion of the transaction, which is conditional upon anti-trust clearance in Portugal, is expected to occur in approximately two months. Payment of £5 million of the consideration is contingent on the transfer of certain joint venture shareholdings that are subject to pre-emption rights held by the other shareholders.

Tate & Lyle has provided American Sugar Refining, Inc. with a perpetual worldwide licence to use the Tate & Lyle brand in connection with the retail sale of sugar and in other limited circumstances, the company said.

Tate & Lyle also announces the launch of processes to sell the remaining businesses within the sugars division, principally Molasses and Vietnamese sugar.

Latest News

Booker-Tate sells off EU refineries to US

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

CWI’s Shallow, Bascombe circumspect amid two-tier Test system

Guyana to play Suriname, Grenada in “Nations...

Guyana Football Federation announces opening of...

West Indies unveil powerful 17-man squad for O50s...

Seven Regional Champions to vie for direct...

Kennard Memorial Turf Club expresses sincere...

Features/Columnists

The unconscionable terms of the PSA establish a case for renegotiation

Forget Begging Rich Nations: Caribbean Countries Should Act to Save Themselves

Renegotiation – the latest Guyanese curse

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Booker-Tate sells off EU refineries to US

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]