Acquisition

Associated British Foods PLC
12 July 2000

                               
  ABF Adds To US Pharmaceutical and Food Ingredient Interests
                               
Associated British Foods (ABF), the international food,
ingredients and retail group, has announced the acquisition of
the polyols business of Lonza Inc., a North American
subsidiary of Swiss owned Lonza Group. In 1999, Lonza polyols
had sales in its last full financial year, ended 31 December,
of $20.0 million.

ABF is growing its business in high added value ingredients in
the pharmaceutical, oral care and food sectors, and has been
especially active in North America. It acquired SPI Polyols of
New Castle, Delaware in October 1998. Now, with the addition
of the Lonza polyols business,  ABF has become one of the
leading players in the growing polyols sector.

SPI has a major presence in this market, supplying a broad
customer base many of which are household names, and is able
to provide a wide range of functional ingredients such as
sorbitol, mannitol, maltitol and hydrogenated starch
hydrolysates. The acquisition of Lonza's polyol interests will
help SPI build its relationships with these key customers, and
provides exciting opportunities for market and product
development inside and outside the US.

Commenting on ABF's latest move in the development of its
international ingredients business, Chief Executive, Peter
Jackson said, 'Our acquisition of SPI was an important
landmark in our strategy to build a strong position in this
high growth area. The business has performed well, using its
technology to open new markets for its products. The addition
of Lonza's polyol interests will accelerate our growth in this
important sector.'

For more information, please call:

   John Bason
   Finance Director
   Tel:  [phone]