Britain for sale: Food and drink flavouring firm Treatt snapped up

Food and drink flavouring business Treatt is to be bought by a private equity backed rival.

The board of the London-listed has agreed a takeover worth £156.6million by Natara, the ingredient business owned by private equity investor Exponent.

The firms confirmed that Natara will pay shareholders 260 pence per share to buy the business.

It represents a 16.1 per cent premium on the value of Treatt shares at the close of trading on Friday.

Treatt shares soared 17.9  per cent to 264p by midafternoon on Monday. 

Treatt is just the latest London-listed company to be snapped up this year – fuelling fears predators are circling the UK stock market on the hunt for bargains.

Other firms to be bought include Deliveroo, Spectris and Dowlais.

Other London-listed firms to be bought this year include Deliveroo, Spectris and Dowlais

The Treatt acquisition, which will require court approval, is expected to complete later this year.

It comes two months after Treatt, which makes natural extracts and ingredients for food, fragrance and consumer businesses, saw its shares tumble after cutting its sales and profit guidance.

Treatt said it was impacted by weaker sales and tough market conditions, particularly in its North American business.

The board yesterday of Treatt said they would recommend the takeover move, describing the offer as ‘fair and reasonable’.

Vijay Thakrar, chair of Treatt, said: ‘Treatt has many opportunities for growth ahead. While we have a clear strategy to capture these growth opportunities, a combination with Natara would provide the investment and scale that will enable us to do this faster, more extensively, and with lower execution risk than we could achieve on a standalone basis.

‘It would bring together two highly complementary businesses and expand our reach and product offering significantly – positioning Treatt, our people, and our customers for long-term success.’

Natara, which makes ingredients and aromas for the food and fragrance sectors, was bought by private equity firm Exponent – which owns Gu puddings and other brands – in 2023.

Yoram Knoop, chief executive of Natara, said: ‘By combining with Treatt, we will be strongly positioned to continue our growth journey.

‘The combination of Natara and Treatt will bring together two complementary businesses, expanding our product portfolio, accelerating our capability in innovation and delivering an enhanced customer proposition globally.

‘The combination also will create more opportunities for each companies’ teams, with greater capacity for collaboration and investment in talent.’

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