Ingredion hires Boston Beer CFO Diego Reynoso as £3.7bn Tate & Lyle integration looms

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE: INGR) has appointed Diego Reynoso as chief financial officer effective October 1, placing a food-and-beverage finance executive with experience spanning Boston Beer, Tyson Foods and Constellation Brands into the role as Ingredion prepares for the largest transaction in its recent history. Reynoso will join Ingredion’s executive leadership team and report to Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Zallie, with responsibilities extending beyond financial reporting into capital allocation, productivity and integration execution.

That integration mandate makes the appointment more commercially significant than a routine CFO change. Ingredion is pursuing the acquisition of Tate & Lyle plc at an enterprise value of approximately £3.7 billion, or about US$5 billion based on exchange rates used when the transaction was announced. Tate & Lyle shareholders accepted Ingredion’s 595-pence-per-share cash offer in July, although regulatory approvals remain outstanding and completion is expected only in the second half of 2027.

Reynoso will leave The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE: SAM) on September 14. Boston Beer has appointed Chief Accounting Officer Matt Murphy as interim chief financial officer and treasurer from September 15 while it searches for a permanent successor. Reynoso had served as Boston Beer’s CFO since September 2023.

Why does Ingredion need an integration-focused CFO before the Tate & Lyle deal?

Ingredion expects the Tate & Lyle combination to create approximately US$130 million of run-rate net cost synergies by the end of 2030 and to increase adjusted earnings per share in the first year after completion. Delivering those targets will require decisions covering financing, restructuring, operating integration, procurement and capital allocation across a substantially larger international ingredients group.

The financing profile adds another layer. Ingredion intends to fund the acquisition through existing cash, new debt and potentially its committed bridge facility, with pro forma net leverage expected to rise to approximately 3.0 times net debt to adjusted EBITDA when the transaction completes. Management then expects to reduce that figure to roughly 2.5 times within about 18 months.

Reynoso’s background overlaps closely with those requirements. Before Boston Beer, he held finance, commercial and operating leadership roles at Tyson Foods, Constellation Brands, Beam Suntory, Danone and Procter & Gamble. Ingredion specifically highlighted his experience with integrations and portfolio transformations when announcing the appointment.

That matters because the new CFO will likely spend much of his early tenure preparing for a transaction that is not scheduled to close for another year. Ingredion and Tate & Lyle must continue operating independently until completion, but financing plans, integration architecture and post-closing capital priorities can be developed well before legal control changes hands.

What financial position does Diego Reynoso inherit at Ingredion?

Ingredion reported second-quarter 2026 net sales of US$1.85 billion, up 1% year over year, while reported diluted earnings per share fell to US$1.78 from US$2.99. Adjusted diluted EPS was more resilient at US$2.82 compared with US$2.87 a year earlier, reflecting acquisition and integration costs, impairments, restructuring and other items affecting reported results.

The company reaffirmed amended full-year guidance for adjusted EPS of US$10.30 to US$10.90. Its existing business is also undergoing portfolio changes independently of Tate & Lyle, including the sale of a majority stake in its Pakistan business and ongoing work to improve operating reliability at the Argo facility.

Reynoso therefore enters a finance function facing several overlapping priorities: maintaining earnings discipline in the existing business, preparing financing for the Tate & Lyle purchase, managing an expected increase in leverage and then overseeing the planned deleveraging and synergy programme after closing.

What does Reynoso’s departure mean for Boston Beer?

Boston Beer is handing the role temporarily to a long-serving internal executive rather than immediately naming an external replacement. Murphy joined the company in 2006, became chief accounting officer in 2015 and previously served as interim CFO in 2023 before Reynoso arrived.

Reynoso leaves Boston Beer with US$265.5 million of cash and no debt at the end of its second quarter, although the brewer continues to deal with softer volumes. Second-quarter depletions declined 6% year over year and shipments fell 4.5%, while management has emphasized productivity initiatives and supply-chain improvements as it navigates weaker demand across parts of its portfolio.

For Ingredion, the attraction is different. The company is hiring Reynoso at the point where finance leadership will increasingly be judged by transaction execution rather than simply quarterly reporting. With the Tate & Lyle acquisition expected to push leverage toward 3.0 times and deliver US$130 million of eventual cost synergies, his October arrival gives Ingredion substantial preparation time before the planned second-half 2027 closing.