LONDON (Reuters) - British food ingredients maker Tate & Lyle (>> Tate & Lyle PLC) named private equity executive Gerry Murphy as its new chairman on Thursday, succeeding Peter Gershon in April.

Tate said Murphy, chairman of The Blackstone Group's principal European entity, would join the board on Jan. 1, and become chairman on 1 April following Gershon's retirement.

Before joining Blackstone in 2008, Murphy served as chief executive of retail group Kingfisher, Carlton Communications, Exel and Greencore Group (>> Greencore Group plc).

(Reporting by Martinne Geller; editing by Susan Thomas)

Stocks treated in this article : Diageo plc, Tate & Lyle PLC, Greencore Group plc