Acquisition

Tate & Lyle PLC
                  

Tate & Lyle announces acquisition of food ingredient companies

Tate & Lyle, the global renewable ingredients company, today announced the
signing of agreements to acquire US specialty food ingredients company
Continental Custom Ingredients ('CCI') and the Italian based Cesalpinia group of
companies ('Cesalpinia Foods') (together 'the businesses'). The transactions are
expected to be completed by the first quarter of the 2006 calendar year for a
total consideration of £74 million.

CCI is Employee owned and was founded in 1975. Its headquarters and primary
operations are located in Sycamore, Illinois and it also has operations in
Mexico and Canada. CCI is a recognised leader in dairy stabilisers and
emulsifier systems and works closely with customers to develop ingredient
systems for the North American market. CCI also has expertise in beverage
flavours and vitamin and mineral fortification. The consideration payable on
closing will be £40 million, made up of cash of £36 million plus assumption of
CCI net long term debt estimated at £4 million. The total consideration equates
to approximately 1.2 times CCI turnover for the financial year to 31 December
2004. CCI will be reported as part of Tate & Lyle Food & Industrial Ingredients,
Americas. The acquisition is expected to cover Tate & Lyle's cost of capital in
the first full year of operation.

Cesalpinia Foods is owned by Italian company MARE Group. It was established in
the 1960's as a producer of natural flavours and later diversified into
manufacturing and marketing natural gums and stabilisers. It operates
predominantly from Italy, with production sites in Sicily and Milan. The
acquisition expands Tate & Lyle's knowledge of stabilising systems and gums and
further enhances its expertise in providing solutions for key target markets
such as dairy, soups, sauces and dressings. The debt free consideration, payable
in cash on closing, will be £34 million and equates to approximately 1.4 times
Cesalpinia Foods turnover for the financial year to

31 December 2004. Cesalpinia Foods will be reported as part of Tate & Lyle Food
& Industrial Ingredients, Europe. The acquisition is expected to cover Tate &
Lyle's cost of capital in the second full year of operation.

'These bolt-on acquisitions are an excellent fit with Tate & Lyle's stated
growth strategy' said Iain Ferguson, Tate & Lyle's Chief Executive. 'They
represent a further step in broadening our product mix, technology and customer
base in rapidly expanding areas such as blends and fortification. Both
businesses have been customers of ours for a number of years and we are pleased
to welcome them to our team.

'These businesses bring expertise in dairy, gums and custom formulation and will
complement Tate & Lyle's broad product range, operational scale and
sophisticated research capabilities. Together we will be more responsive in
developing distinctive and innovative solutions for the food industry as part of
our value added growth strategy.'

For more information contact Tate & Lyle PLC:

Mark Robinson (Investor Relations)
Tel: [phone] or Mobile: [phone]

Ferne Hudson (Press)
Tel: [phone] or Mobile: [phone]

About Tate & Lyle:

Tate & Lyle is a world leading manufacturer of renewable food and industrial
ingredients.

It uses innovative technology to transform corn, wheat and sugar into
value-added ingredients for customers in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical,
cosmetic, paper, packaging and building industries. The Company is a leader in
cereal sweeteners and starches, sugar refining, value added food and industrial
ingredients, and citric acid. Tate & Lyle is the world number-one in industrial
starches and is the sole manufacturer of SPLENDA® Sucralose.

Headquartered in London, Tate & Lyle is listed on the London Stock Exchange
under the symbol TATE.L. In the US its ADRs trade under TATYY. The Company
operates more than 60 production facilities in 28 countries, throughout Europe,
the Americas and South East Asia. It employs 6,700 people in its subsidiaries
with a further 4,500 employed in joint ventures. Sales in the year to 31 March
2005 totalled £3.3 billion. Additional information can be found on
www.tateandlyle.com.

SPLENDA® and the SPLENDA® logo are trademarks of McNeil Nutritionals, LLC