Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE: INGR) has announced the completion of its acquisition of PureCircle Limited, the world’s leading producer and innovator of plant-based stevia sweeteners and flavors for the food and beverage industry. PureCircle brings global innovation and manufacturing expertise, enabling Ingredion to leverage its global go-to-market model, formulation capabilities and broad ingredient portfolio.
“This is a significant step forward as we advance our Driving Growth Roadmap and further align our sugar reduction and specialty sweetener platform to the megatrends in the food and beverage industry,” said Jim Zallie, Ingredion’s president and chief executive officer. “PureCircle provides substantial growth potential that is aligned with our strategy to create long-term shareholder value. We have always had tremendous respect for the PureCircle team and the business they have built over the last two decades. We are excited to welcome them to the Ingredion family. Most importantly, our team stands ready to drive new growth opportunities that are fully aligned with consumers’ preferences for plant-based alternatives that are sustainable, good for the environment and taste great.”
Two leadership team decisions are also being announced to support this integration, effective July 1, 2020.
- Tony DeLio will serve as chief executive officer of PureCircle in addition to his current responsibilities as the chief innovation officer of Ingredion.
- SukGu Kim will become the chief financial officer of PureCircle. Most recently, Kim was the finance director for the Company’s largest region in Asia-Pacific.
“PureCircle is a renowned innovator with a proven track record for producing great-tasting, naturally based stevia and derivatives of stevia. And, they have pioneered the development of novel varieties of stevia that are both better tasting and higher yielding,” said DeLio. “Our go-to-market model and formulation expertise will be highly complementary when combined with their leading position and innovation capabilities. Through their industry leadership, PureCircle has created outstanding customer relationships, which we look forward to building upon in the future.”
PureCircle is wholly owned by Ingredion’s acquisition subsidiary, which is in turn 75 percent-owned by Ingredion and 25 percent-owned by former PureCircle shareholders. Additional information about the acquisition is presented in Ingredion’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Citi acted as financial advisor to Ingredion and Hogan Lovells acted as its legal counsel.
