FIJI'S longest standing and largest sugar buyer - Tate & Lyle - will discontinue its multi-million dollar sugars division from September 30 this year.
A Tate & Lyle statement said this came as the company battled to control its net debt, which sat at $2.42billion (814million Pounds) at March 31 this year.
On July 1, the company announced that it was selling its entire European Union sugar operations for $629.1million (211m Pounds) in cash to American Sugar Refining - which is one of the oldest and largest sugar companies in the United States.
Tate & Lyle Sugars President Ian Bacon confirmed that he would respond soon to Fiji Times questions on the impact of the sale on Fiji's 300,000 tonne per year sugar contract with the company.
Fiji Sugar Corporation signed the contract in 2008, which will run through to 2015.
This as Fiji's preferential sugar prices under a Sugar Convention with the EU expired in September last year.
The sale means that Tate & Lyle's cane sugar refineries in London (United Kingdom) and Lisbon (Portugal), the Lyle's Golden Syrup factory in London (UK), the associated sugar and syrup brands and the Tate & Lyle Process Technology consulting business will pass to American hands.
"Sugar refining has enjoyed a long and proud history within Tate & Lyle, but we believe the interests of this business and its employees are now best served by being part of a company for whom sugar refining is core," said Tate & Lyle chief executive Javed Ahmed.
The transaction between Tate & Lyle and American Sugar Refining is expected to be completed in two months, and the company said it was "conditional upon anti-trust clearance in Portugal".
The sale also means that American Sugar Refining Inc would also control a perpetual worldwide licence to use the Tate & Lyle brand in connection with the retail sale of sugar and in other limited circumstances.
Tate & Lyle also announced that it was beginning processes to sell off the remaining businesses within the sugars division, principally molasses and Vietnamese sugar. Tate & Lyle said it would now focus only on speciality food ingredients, supported by cash generated from bulk ingredients.