Bayer CropScience, the global crop science company, has signed an agreement to purchase AgraQuest, Inc. for $425 million (approximately EUR 340 million) plus milestone payments, it has been announced today.
AgraQuest, headquartered in Davis, California, USA, is a global supplier of biological pest management solutions based on natural microorganisms. The purchase is expected to provide Bayer with a technology platform for green products.
Green products control a broad spectrum of pests and diseases and offer farmers integrated pest management programs to minimize development of resistance and maximize crop yields. The acquisition is subject to approval by the relevant authorities.
“The growing fruits and vegetables market, which today accounts for more than 25 percent of our sales, is of strategic importance for us. We plan to achieve EUR 3 billion sales in this segment by 2020 and with the acquisition of AgraQuest we are underlining our growth ambitions,” said Sandra Peterson, CEO of Bayer CropScience, sending a strong signal to the market.
“We are the first in our industry to offer farmers a truly comprehensive range of integrated crop solutions based on seeds, traits and combined chemical crop protection and biological control,” she added.
“We are proud to become part of Bayer CropScience,” AgraQuest CEO Marcus Meadows-Smith commented.
“AgraQuest is ideally positioned as a technology leader in the global biological market and by joining forces with Bayer CropScience we will be able to develop revolutionary, tailor-made biological solutions. Every AgraQuest employee is passionate about developing innovative solutions for better food, and now the products developed through their hard work will be made available to farmers in every corner of the world.”
AgraQuest sells its green products through a network of distributors and partners in other global regions.
Its current product portfolio includes Serenade, Rhapsody, Sonata and Ballad fungicides and Reqiuem insecticides.
Bayer will also leverage AgraQuest's technology platform and its pipeline of new biological control agents.
Several new pipeline products, which include acaracides, fungicides and nematicides, amongst others, are under development, and have undergone early field evaluations.
