Dive Brief:

• Food recycler Darling International acquired Dutch company Vion Holding's special ingredients division for $2.2 billion.
• The division makes ingredients from animal sources to be used in food, pet food, fertilizer, bio-energy and pharmaceuticals, and Darling topped offers from private equity firms including Apollo, CVC, Advent and Permira.
• Vion Ingredients will continue to be lead by CEO Dirk Kloosterboer, who will also become Darling's chief operating officer.

Dive Insight:

The deal is expected to close in January. Darling Chairman and CEO Randall C. Stuewe hailed the acquisition as a move that will "create the global leader in converting edible and inedible bio-nutrients streams into specialty products and ingredients for the food, feed, fuel, fertilizer and pharmaceutical industries."