Darling Ingredients to buy Valley Proteins for over $1bn
Virginia-based, Valley Proteins Inc, operates 18 rendering and used cooking oil facilities throughout the southern, southeast and mid-Atlantic regions of the US.
Darling CEO, Randall Stuewe, said he expects the acquisition to be accretive post-integration.
“In the evolving world of ESG and global decarbonization, Valley Proteins will supplement Darling’s global supply of waste fats and greases. The new supply will now provide Darling with additional low carbon feedstock to produce renewable diesel and potentially sustainable aviation fuel.”
The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.
The CEO added the companies will look to complete the acquisition “in a timely manner.”
Value-added feed ingredients
Valley Proteins collects and recycles animal processing waste from the food industry to produce animal feeds, pet food ingredients such as poultry-blood and meat meals, feather meal and stabilized feed and poultry fat, along with energy alternatives. The company employs 1,900 people and operates a 550-vehicle fleet.
According to its website, it has grown to become one of the largest rendering companies in the US with several hundred million dollars in annual sales. “On average, the company currently processes three million tons of raw materials and manufactures over one million tons of value-added animal feed ingredients annually, which are marketed throughout the world.”
Darling Ingredients is also a producer of renewable clean energy and collects waste streams from the agri-food industry, repurposing those into green bioenergy and specialty ingredients including animal proteins and meals, plasma, pet food. It is also a 50% joint venture partner in Diamond Green Diesel (DGD), North America's largest renewable diesel manufacturer.
In January 2020, Darling secured its foothold in the insect protein space by acquiring US insect feed producer, EnviroFlight LLC, a company that is producing Black Soldier Fly (BSF) larvae at commercial scale at its facility in Kentucky.
