grocery company, for $360 million. A. E. Staley stated a need to diversify away from bulk food processing. After the acquisition, A. E. Staley changed its name to Staley Continental, Inc. (until 1993). In 1988, British company Tate & Lyle acquired 90% of A. E. Staley for $1.42 billion. Prior to the purchase, Tate & Lyle announced that it planned to sell CFS Continental to SYSCO, another wholesale grocer, for $700 million to help fund the acquisition. In 2000, Tate & Lyle acquired the remaining 10% of the company. In 2005, the company changed its name to Tate & Lyle Ingredients Americas LLC (Tate & Lyle Primary Products business). In July 2021, Tate & Lyle announced it was spinning off Tate & Lyle Primary Products (formerly, Tate & Lyle Ingredients Americas LLC) into a new company to be known as Primary Products Ingredients Americas LLC (Primient). Tate & Lyle will maintain 50% ownership of Primient and the remaining 50% will be owned by KPS Capital Partners (including board and management control). The transcation was completed by the end of the first quarter of 2022. 1993 labor lockout controversy On Sunday, June 27, 1993, A. E. Staley officials decided to lock out A. E. Staley employees who were members of the Allied Industrial Workers of America Union. The lockout incident was the result of nearly a decade of labor disputes between management and Staley's unionized workers. The decline in pay and wages began in 1985 when A. E. Staley merged with Continental Foods, forming Staley Continental. During the next three years, the union was forced to make concessions as management was concerned about the plant remaining viable. Base pay was frozen at $10.80 per hour and workers complained of long overtime hours and declining safety conditions. After London based Tate & Lyle purchased A. E. Staley in 1988, conditions got worse for the factory workers. In 1989, contract negotiations began for a new three-year contract. While the bargaining committee was hoping to end the salary freeze and improving safety standards, the company was ushering in new practices, such as rotating shifts and deskilling of jobs as well as elimination of many safety procedures. In 1991, the company hired a new labor relations director who was known for promoting union busting practices. Workers with years and decades of experience at the plant were fired and new supervisors forced workers to ignore OSHA