Acquisition

Tate & Lyle PLC
                  

29 November 2004 - Tate & Lyle PLC

Tate & Lyle buys leading South African ingredients company Dolcré Food
Ingredients (Pty) Ltd. Dolcré re-branding as Tate & Lyle.

Global renewable ingredients company Tate & Lyle has bought leading South
African food ingredients company Dolcré. The acquisition brings together the
strengths of a global brand and a strong heritage in ingredient manufacturing
with the local expertise of an ingredient solutions company in South Africa.
Dolcré will begin a re-branding process to change its name to Tate & Lyle South
Africa, and will trade under the Tate & Lyle brand.

Dolcré has been buying ingredients and delivering tailor-made food systems to
the South African market for the last eight years. The largest importer of
fructose and sole distributor of SPLENDA(R) Sucralose in South Africa, Dolcré
has gone from strength to strength since it was founded in 1996 as a food
ingredient distributor. Dolcré's ingredient portfolio also includes modified
starches, sweeteners, pectins, maltodextrins, fat replacers, flavours and
neutraceuticals.

Building on these distribution skills, Dolcré has utilised in-house
technological expertise to package blends and ingredient solutions for large and
medium sized companies, including several multinationals. Supported by in-house
R&D laboratories and technical teams, Dolcré assists with product formulation
and new product development.

Tate & Lyle bought a 20% stake in Dolcré in 1998. Recognizing Dolcré's strong
performance and collaborative approach to customers as having an excellent fit
with Tate & Lyle's food ingredient solutions business, the Group recently bought
the remaining 80% stake. Net assets acquired totalled £1.4 million.

'Dolcré's approach to working in partnership was an ideal fit with Tate & Lyle's
new customer-focused vision,' said Stanley Musesengwa, Tate & Lyle's Chief
Operating Officer. 'We look forward to building on Dolcré's excellent reputation
for customer service and bringing Tate & Lyle's ingredient expertise to the
table. Tate & Lyle and Dolcré enjoy a unique fit, sharing the same customer base
and having played an important part in each other's business in South Africa for
some time.'

Diederick Reid, Dolcré's Managing Director, now Managing Director, Tate & Lyle
Food & Industrial Ingredients, South Africa welcomes the change: 'We have worked
with Tate & Lyle for some years now as customer and partner, and have a shared
approach to offering customers ingredient solutions tailored to their specific
needs. Tate & Lyle has a strong brand presence across the world and at Dolcré we
are very proud to become part of Tate & Lyle.'

The new identity will be rolled out over the next year. Ends.

For more details contact:

Tate & Lyle PLC
Ferne Hudson, (Press) 020 7977 6143
Mark Robinson (Investor Relations) 020 7977 6189

About Tate & Lyle

Tate & Lyle is a world leader in renewable ingredients. Its core competence is
to take corn, wheat or sugar, and add value to these raw materials through
technology. As a result of continuous innovation it offers an ever-wider product
portfolio of versatile and functional ingredients. These products include Cereal
Sweeteners, Starches, Sugars, Citric Acid and SPLENDA(R) Sucralose. Tate & Lyle
products have wide applications in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, cosmetic,
paper, packaging and building industries. With headquarters in London, Tate &
Lyle operates more than 41 plants and 20 additional production facilities in 28
countries, almost all in Europe and the Americas. It employs 6,700 people in its
subsidiaries with a further 4,800 employed in joint ventures. Sales in the year
to 31 March 2004 totalled £3,167 million. More details are available on this
website www.tateandlyle.com.

SPLENDA(R) is a trademark of McNeil Nutritionals, LLC