Darling International Inc., has announced that its board of directors has unanimously approved a definitive purchase agreement to acquire National By-Products, LLC, for a combination of cash and stock valued at approximately $141 million.

Founded in 1933, National By-Products is an independent rendering company, based in Des Moines, Iowa. The company collects and recycles animal by-products and used cooking oil from livestock producers, meat packers, grocery stores and restaurants and sells its products nationally and internationally to a variety of sectors including chemical and leather goods manufacturers.

Darling International Inc. is the largest publicly traded, food processing by-products recycling company in the United States. The company recycles used restaurant cooking oil and by-products from the beef, pork and poultry processing industries into useable products such as tallow, feed-grade fats and meat and bone meal.