April 28/Lincoln, RI, and London/Press Release -- James Finlay Limited announced that it has bought, through its wholly owned subsidiary James Finlay International Inc., 100% of the share capital of Autocrat LLC for an undisclosed sum.

Finlays operates in all parts of the tea supply chain and brings "bush to cup’ tea knowledge in leaf tea procurement, product development and innovation. Autocrat is a supplier of coffee extracts.

“This acquisition demonstrates our willingness to invest in businesses that can help fuel profitable growth and broaden our existing tea extracts business in North America. Finlays is already a major player in the UK roast and ground coffee market, and there are some obvious synergies between tea and coffee extracts around customers and product development,” said Ron Mathison, Finlays Group managing director. “The US Market is an exciting area for Finlays,and we are looking forward to putting more emphasis on our operations here. The acquisition will double the size of our business in the US, giving us greater scale and access to new channels. Entering the coffee extracts market is a natural extension for our own tea extracts business providing excellent opportunities for growth.”