Sources told Bloomberg that meat and cooking oil recycling firm Darling International Inc was close to finalizing its acquisition of the meat rendering unit of Vion Food Group Ltd. Darling was set to pay as much as USD 2 billion for the deal and could agree to pay for the business in cash within this week, the sources added. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because the transaction was private.

Should the acquisition of Vion Ingredients push through, it would be Darling's most expensive purchase so far. Data gathered by Bloomberg showed that Darling's market value was pegged at USD 2.4 billion. In August, Darling announced it would be acquiring the animal-rendering unit of Maple Leaf Foods Inc for USD 613 million.

People familiar with the matter also told Bloomberg in August that together with Darling, European private equity firms CVC Capital Partners and Permira Advisers as well as Apollo Global Management, Advent International Corp and Saria Bio-Industries had submitted second round bids for Vion's meat rendering business.