A company which employs 25 people in Powys dealing with fallen livestock has been taken over as part of the acquisition of its parent company.

Animal by-products specialist JG Pears has taken over the FM Caine collection centres at Knighton and Rugeley, as part of its takeover of the sites' parent company Bradford-based P Waddington.

The Yorkshire firm provides rendering and collection services to the UK farm and food industries, processing raw materials to turn them into finished products for use in the renewable energy sector.

The GM Caine site at Pen-y-bont Road in Knighton employs 25 people, and serves farms throughout the West Midlands and Wales regions, collecting fallen livestock.

The company was founded in 1919 by Michael Caine, who collected casualty animals from local farms in the aftermath of the First World War. The site is still operated by the descendants of the company's founder, and P Waddington said the company was looking forward to working with Ben Caine on developing the site.

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Jeff Pears, chief executive of the JG Pears Group, said: “There are many linkages between JG Pears and P Waddington, and the larger group will be well placed to service the needs of the animal by product sector going forward.

"Every interaction we jointly had through this process has reinforced our common vision of our employees providing an excellent service to our customers whilst minimising the impact on our neighbours and the environment."

Mark Waddington added: “For the Waddington family, whilst this deal is tinged with sadness that we say thank you and goodbye to the people we have worked with for many, many years, we leave in the knowledge that the Waddington operations will thrive within JG Pears."

The acquisition supports the recent development of a biomass CHP plant at JG Pears' Low Marnham site in Nottinghamshite, by bringing a large proportion of the fuel needed for the plant inside the operation. It has help make JG Pears the most sustainable operator in the UK Rendering industry.

JG Pears were supported through the transaction by Squire Patton Boggs (Paul Mann, Craig Pettit and Harry Hobson) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (Joel Smith and Debra Howarth).

The company uses animal by-products to supply fats, oils and protein meals into pet food, aquaculture and other speciality sectors.