Ingredion Incorporated (INGR: NYSE) and PureCircle Limited (LSE: PURE), have announced that they have reached agreement on the terms for Ingredion to acquire a controlling 75 percent stake in PureCircle, a producer of stevia sweeteners for the global food and beverage industries. Ingredion is a global provider of plant-based ingredient solutions to diversified industries.

The proposed acquisition has been approved by the boards of both companies. The companies expect the transaction to close during the second half of 2020 subject to approval by PureCircle’s shareholders and receipt of the required regulatory approvals. Until then, Ingredion and PureCircle will remain separate, independent companies with separate product portfolios and go-to-market teams.

Sugar reduction is one of Ingredion’s five specialties growth platforms and Ingredion is committed to invest in its growth. Stevia is a core product for the sugar reduction portfolio. 

Ingredion has followed the development of PureCircle for several years and believes that it is a fundamentally strong and attractive business that will be a great fit with Ingredion's long-term strategy, given PureCircle's leadership position in this space. Beyond its leadership in the market, PureCircle brings unrivalled innovation and manufacturing expertise related to stevia. Upon completion, both companies will be able to build on these strengths and PureCircle will be able to leverage on Ingredion’s global go to market network, as well as its formulation expertise and broad product portfolio will drive both growth synergies, as well as significant savings to both companies

Further, both Ingredion and PureCircle have a proud legacy and share a similar culture.

PureCircle has demonstrated its leadership in the stevia industry through:

• High-quality, great tasting, innovative stevia sweeteners and flavor modifiers supported by full vertical integration from a global network of agricultural partners
• R&D and innovation to produce a growing variety of stevia sweeteners with sugar-like taste to become a resource and collaborative partner for food and beverage companies
• Advanced plant breeding to deliver optimal economics and the best tasting components of the stevia leaf
• Investing in research and development to obtain the grant of over 214 stevia-related patents with more than 300 applied for patents pending
• Expansion and investment in new manufacturing technologies, including the latest expansion of its Malaysian stevia extract facility in 2017

Upon completion of the proposed acquisition, together, Ingredion and PureCircle will bring their customers key technologies that solve many complex formulation challenges faced by food and beverage developers today. PureCircle’s leadership in stevia, combined with Ingredion’s extensive portfolio of texturizers and functional build-back ingredients and expertise in formulating in a wide range of food applications will provide the full suite of complementary ingredients and integrated solutions to solve the sugar reduction challenges of food and beverage companies.

“PureCircle is a widely recognized innovator with a proven track record for producing great-tasting, plant-based stevia. Ingredion’s successful and global go-to-market model combined with our formulation expertise will be highly complementary with PureCircle’s capabilities,” said Ingredion’s president and chief executive officer Jim Zallie.

“We have tremendous respect for the business that PureCircle has built for nearly two decades and are excited to welcome them to the Ingredion family. We are ready to support this new phase of growth with stevia’s on-trend and sustainable solutions,” concluded Zallie.

“We at PureCircle are glad to have found a strong partner in Ingredion who shares our mission of encouraging healthy diets around the world and being the preferred supplier of high-purity, great-tasting stevia ingredients for the global food and beverage industry”, said Peter Lai Hock Meng, CEO of PureCircle. “This acquisition should excite the current and potential customers of both companies, as the combined companies will be able to serve our customers with better services, wider product range and extend deeper into the global, regional and local markets.”