China National Bluestar (Group) Corporation is expected to acquire animal nutrition supplement producer Adisseo Group with € 400 million next week, a source with the Chinese company said in Beijing Friday.

The deal will mark the largest purchase between China and France so far, said Ren Jianxin, President of China National Chemical Corporation (CNCC), the parent company of China Bluestar.

Adisseo Group is world's second largest methionine producer, with 200,000 tons output each year and 29 percent of the global market share. Methionine, a supplement in the animal feed, could speed up the breeding process of poultry and thus save feeding stuff. It could also enhance human immunity.

China, though a big agricultural country, could not produce methionine before and the import in 2005 stood at 120,000 tons. Experts predict that demand will grow between 10 to 15 percent each year in the coming few years.

Ren said the deal will help develop China's poultry industry. Also with the technology transferred, China Bluestar plans to establish a production base in China with the yearly methionine output of 200,000 tons.

(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2006)