SAO PAULO, May 5 (Reuters) - Darling Ingredients Inc reached a deal to acquire Brazilian rendering company Grupo FASA for around 2.8 billion reais ($557 million), the company said on Thursday.

The South American company processes more than 1.3 million metric tons of animal by-products annually through 14 industrial plants, producing ingredients for animal feed and renewable fuels.

With the deal, Darling will become a "leader in the supply of low carbon waste fats and oils in North and South America to be used in the production of renewable diesel," said the company's chief executive Randall Stuewe.

"Brazil is a leader in global agricultural commodities growth and is expected to take on a bigger role in the world's meat production, making it a premier location for rendering growth," he added.

($1 = 5.0288 reais) (Reporting by Peter Frontini; editing by Richard Pullin)