Bayer CropScience plans to get even more green.
The international firm, which is based in RTP, says it is buying AgraQuest, a provider of pest management products based on natural microorganisms, in a deal worth $425 million.
AgraQuest, which is based in Davis, Calif., also will receive milestone payments.
The deal will enable Bayer CropScience to develop a platform for creation of what it calls “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 company says.
“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 [some $4 billion] in sales in this segment by 2020 and with the acquisition of AgraQuest we are underlining our growth ambitions,” said Sandra Peterson, chief executive officer of Bayer CropScience. “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.
AgraQuest already has a variety of products and a research and development pipeline of additional possible solutions.
“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,” said Marcus Meadows-Smith, CEO of AgraQuest. “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 products are sold in more than 30 countries.
