October 26/Philadelphia/PRNewswire -- FMC Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire South Pole Biogroup Ltda., a Chilean-based natural color and specialty nutrition ingredients manufacturer.  The acquisition further expands FMC's portfolio of naturally sourced specialty products used in the food, beverage, personal care, nutrition and pharmaceutical markets.

"South Pole Biogroup is an innovation leader in the natural color and health ingredients industry," said Mike Smith, division general manager, FMC BioPolymer.  "This transaction brings a remarkable portfolio of natural color formulation, product application expertise, and ingredient extraction capabilities to FMC customers and partners around the world."

The natural color market is expected to grow beyond $1 billion in the next four years as consumer preference for nature-derived food colors and ingredients and overall health and nutrition continues to increase in mature and emerging markets. 

"FMC has been a global leader in food ingredient technology for more than 50 years," Smith added.  "The acquisition of South Pole Biogroup and its franchise businesses -- BioColor and BioNutrition -- opens exciting new platform opportunities in natural colorants and functional ingredients for FMC BioPolymer. And it's another critical step in FMC's Vision 2015 growth strategy."

FMC expects to close the acquisition before year end.  Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

 From the October 27, 2011, Prepared Foods' Daily News.