The oat mill, based in Kimstad outside Norrköping, has a capacity of 55,000 tonnes and is expected to enable Lantmännen to meet the growing demand from its customers in the Nordic food industry. The facility has around 35 employees and is currently producing oat protein, beta-glucan and oat flour.
The sale is a result of a strategic review by Tate & Lyle to determine the future of its oats ingredients business. The review found that the division “no longer fit well with the mainstream food categories which it now focuses on”.
Joan Braca, president of food and beverage solutions at Tate & Lyle, said: “We are pleased to reach this agreement with Lantmännen, which represents a good outcome for our oat ingredient employees and customers, and enables us to focus our business on serving our customers in our main food and beverage categories. We wish Lantmännen and its employees every success for the future.”
The agreement was signed on 22 March and the transaction is expected to be completed by 29 March.
Per-Olof Nyman, CEO and group president of Lantmännen, explained the acquisition. “Oats are a strategic investment area for Lantmännen and the further development of our oats business is a key part of our ‘Field to Fork 2030’ strategy,” he said. “We are already strongly positioned in oats and this acquisition gives Lantmännen access to a modern mill that complements our existing production capacity within oats and creates a unique opportunity to develop and manufacture ingredients based on oats as the raw material.”
The manufacturing processes at the Kimstad facility are reported to have many similarities with production at Lantmännen Reppe and, once the acquisition has been completed, the facility will become part of the energy sector at Lantmännen.
Magnus Kagevik, head of the energy sector at Lantmännen, added: “Lantmännen’s Energy Sector already has specialist expertise within the processing of wheat, and oat products will be an excellent complement to our current business. The acquisition enables Lantmännen to increase the production capacity of heat-treated oats significantly and gives us an opportunity to create added value within oat processing. It also creates synergies both within the Energy Sector and our other businesses at Lantmännen.”