ASR Group Expands European Sugar Business, Forms Partnership with SFIR in Italy

- World's largest sugar refiner purchases 50 percent of Brindisi Refinery and Italian marketing and sales company

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, Oct. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ASR Group, the world's largest cane sugar refining and marketing company, today acquired 50 percent ownership of Europe's second largest cane sugar refinery as well as an equal share in the Italian marketing company that sells its sugar.

ASR Group purchased ED&F Man's 50 percent share of SFIR Raffineria di Brindisi S.p.A., located in southern Italy.  The cane sugar refinery has a production capacity of 450,000 tonnes of sugar per year and is the newest sugar factory in the European Union, constructed in 2010.  The balance of the shares are owned by SFIR-Societa Fondiaria Industriale Romagnola S.p.A.

In a simultaneous closing, ASR Group also acquired, from the SFIR Group, 50 percent of the sales company Euro SFIR Italia S.p.A., which sells the refinery's sugar in the Italian market. 

ASR Group is the owner of EU sugar producers Tate & Lyle Sugars and Sidul, which sell their products through the Tate & Lyle and Lyle's consumer brands in the United Kingdom and the Sidul and Sores brands in Portugal.

"Our investment in the Brindisi refinery and its sales and marketing company is a further sign of our commitment to our European customers," said Luis Fernandez, co-President of ASR Group. "It will complement our existing operations in the UK and Portugal with a strong presence in the Italian market."

As a result of the transactions, each of ASR Group and SFIR Group own 50 percent of the Brindisi refinery and the company that markets and sells the refinery's products.

"We are enthusiastic about the partnership we are forging with SFIR," said Antonio Contreras, co-President of ASR Group. "Like our company, SFIR has a long history in the sugar business, and we respect them for their long-term investments and outlook, which demonstrate their strong commitment to the sugar industry."

Through Tate & Lyle Sugars, ASR Group owns and operates a million-tonne cane sugar refinery in London, England and a refinery in Lisbon, Portugal.  With its acquisition of the Brindisi refinery, the company will now operate in the EU's three key deficit markets.

"This acquisition further demonstrates our commitment to cane sugar refining, a model that brings competition and choice to Europe's sugar sector," said Ian Bacon, President of Tate & Lyle Sugars.  "It also underlines our belief that EU policy will continue on a path towards a fairer legislative environment for cane refining."

The Brindisi refinery also includes a 34 MW cogeneration power facility that operates on renewable agricultural biofuels.  ASR Group, with its shareholders, has deep hands-on experience in power cogeneration.  They operate four biomass cogeneration facilities in North America (110 MW), Central America (27 MW and 19 MW) and the Caribbean (55 MW).  The company's Belize facility supplies a quarter of the country with renewable electricity.

ASR Group is the world's largest cane sugar refining company, with an annual production capacity of more than 6 million tonnes of sugar. The company produces a full line of grocery and industrial sweetener products. In the European Union, the company owns and operates sugar refineries in London, England and Lisbon, Portugal. Across North America, ASR Group owns and operates six sugar refineries, located in New York, California, Maryland, Louisiana, Canada and Mexico. The company's brand portfolio includes the leading brands Tate & Lyle®, Lyle's®, Sidul®, Sores®, Domino®, C&H®, Florida Crystals® and Redpath®.  ASR Group is owned by Florida Crystals Corporation and Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida. Visit www.ASR-Group.com.

EU contact:

Ross Hall, FTI Consulting:  +44-(0)-207-269-9334

USA contact:

Gabriel Buenaventura, ASR Group: +1-914-709-8230