HOLZMINDEN, GERMANY — Symrise AG has acquired the food ingredient manufacturer International Dehydrated Foods (I.D.F.) and an affiliated company, the pet food maker American Dehydrated Foods (A.D.F.), for approximately $900 million. Ingredients manufactured by I.D.F. include those sourced from chicken protein, chicken broth and chicken fat.

“The strategic acquisition of A.D.F./I.D.F. perfectly delivers on our strategy to expand in fast growing, high-margin business areas,” said Heinz-Jürgen Bertram, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Symrise. “The complementary offering will further diversify our Diana portfolio in pet food and nutrition. The acquisition of the leading provider of natural pet food nutrition ingredients is a further breakthrough for Symrise into the pet food nutrition market.

“With our expertise in pet food palatability and competence in nutrition solutions, we will create an integrated partner for our pet food clients. Through this acquisition, we will also broaden our global presence especially in the U.S. — a strategically important growth market for us — and strengthen our customer base.”

A.D.F. and I.D.F. are based in Springfield, Mo., and employ approximately 470. The company has sales of approximately $220 million.

The two newly acquired companies will become a part of Symrise’s Diana business unit.

“In the starting phase of our company, we already worked very closely with Diana, which is today leading Symrise’s nutrition activities,” said William Darr, founder of A.D.F./I.D.F. “ADF/IDF and Symrise have many things in common. Our company will benefit from Symrise’s scientific know-how to further improve our products. Also, Symrise’s wide global presence and broad customer base will allow A.D.F./I.D.F. to expand its business faster.”