July 28/Philadelphia/Prepared Foods -– FMC Corporation announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire CoLiving Food Ingredients based inGuangzhou, China. The acquisition will "enhance FMC’s leadership position in supplying specialty hydrocolloid products and services to the rapidly growing food ingredient market in China," a company release noted. The companies expect the transaction to close within four to six weeks following approval from Chinese regulatory authorities.

CoLiving will be integrated into FMC Specialty Chemical Group’s BioPolymer Division, which recently opened a new technology and commercial center in Shanghai, China. As a result of the acquisition, FMC will add specialty blending capabilities and an application laboratory in Guangzhou, China.

“We are excited to broaden our customer reach and strengthen our ability to offer innovative solutions to the Chinese dairy market through the CoLiving acquisition,” said Mike Smith, general manager, FMC BioPolymer. “This acquisition is an excellent complement to further accelerate the strong growth BioPolymer has realized supplying specialty stabilizers to Chinese dairy companies as well as improve service and supply chain efficiencies to the Chinese food ingredient market.”

From the August 4, 2008, Prepared Foods e-Flash