Tate & Lyle to buy polydextrose fibre business in China

British speciality food group Tate & Lyle is set to strengthen its presence in Asia-Pacific with the acquisition of Winway Biotechnology Nantong, a polydextrose speciality fibre producer based in China.

The financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

Winway produces an array of polydextrose products for the domestic as well as global markets.

The company operates from a manufacturing plant and laboratories in Nantong, Jiangsu Province.

Over the next two years, Tate & Lyle plans to expand capacity at the Nantong facility to enhance its speciality fibre product offering.

The plant will be the company’s third such facility in its global manufacturing network, and will complement the existing lines in the Netherlands and US.

Tate & Lyle Speciality Food Ingredients president Olivier Rigaud, "The acquisition of Winway provides us with an excellent platform from which to accelerate the growth of our speciality fibres business in Asia Pacific, and to expand our health and wellness offering globally."

The transaction is subject to the receipt of Chinese regulatory approval, expected later this year.

Polydextrose is a low calorie bulking agent and dietary fibre, which plays a key role in replacing the technical functionality of sugar, while providing bulk, body, texture and mouth feel in reduced calorie, no-added-sugar and/or high fibre foods.

It is a soluble dietary fibre with prebiotic properties and has a low glycemic/blood glucose response.

Polydextrose is one of the speciality fibres in Tate & Lyle’s portfolio, which includes PROMITOR Soluble Corn Fibre, PROMITOR Soluble Gluco Fibre and PromOat Beta Glucan.