Danisco A/S has signed an agreement to acquire Sorbial, a French-based agricultural biotechnology company dedicated to the development, manufacture and application of microbial-based products for the animal production industry.

This acquisition further strengthens Danisco's capabilities in delivering healthy nutrition solutions to the animal production industry.

The acquisition includes expertise in R&D and technical services, a product portfolio of unique proprietary strains of Lactobacillus and access to the key EU market for technologies such as direct fed microbials.

''This acquisition builds on the acquisition of Agtech Products that we announced in October 2008. We are now able to bring exciting innovations to our customer base in the EU as well as North America,'' said James Laughton, Executive Vice President, Danisco Animal Nutrition.

Danisco Animal Nutrition, a business unit of leading global food ingredient specialist Danisco A/S (Denmark), pioneered the development and use of enzymes and betaine in animal nutrition.

Sorbial is a French incorporated company owned by a group named Vallée. Dedicated to the research, development, manufacture and technical support of microbial-based products for the animal production industry, its portfolio includes animal health and nutrition products, and treatments for livestock waste.