merging M&A Targets The Next Wave of Specialty Ingredient Acquisitions (2027–2029).

M&A activity across the speciality ingredients industry has moved quickly over the past few years.

By September 2025, Europe had recorded 40 announced ingredient transactions, with €3.87 billion in disclosed value. More than 65% were cross-border deals.

In November of 2025, Aston Chambers published its first Emerging M&A Targets report.

In that report, we identified Tate & Lyle as an acquisition target and Ingredion as the likely buyer.

Public news of Ingredion’s possible offer emerged on 14 May 2026. The recommended all-cash acquisition was formally announced on 8 June 2026.

This is why we continue to produce this research.

Aston Chambers is a specialist recruitment company, but recruitment sits close to change.

We speak with leaders, investors and technical professionals across the ingredients industry every day. We see where leadership teams are changing, where investment is moving, which capabilities businesses are hiring and where candidate movement is likely.

These conversations often reveal early market signals. We test those signals against public filings, financial performance, ownership structures and daily company research. We do not treat industry discussion alone as evidence.

Our new report, 𝐄𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌&𝐀 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 2027–2029, is now available.

The report was completed only 30 days ago. Given the pace of change across the sector, parts of it might already be slightly out of date. New developments continue to emerge, which reinforces the need to track these companies closely.

The report examines:

➡️ Three high-value businesses where we expect significant M&A activity over the next few years.

➡️ Four companies with revenue below €75 million that show credible acquisition, merger or investment signals.

➡️ The expected transaction route, estimated timing, main trigger, counter-signal and confidence level for each company.

➡️ The strategic buyers and investors that offer the strongest fit.

This is not a list of attractive companies. Each business has a visible ownership, financing, succession or strategic catalyst behind its inclusion.