Seeking to add to its “green” portfolio and signficantly boost its fruit and vegetable business, Germany-based Bayer CropScience agreed to purchase AgraQuest, Inc. for $425 million plus milestone payments,
The Davis, Calif.-based AgraQuest is a supplier of biological pest management solutions based on microorganisms and distributes its products in more than 30 countries.
“The growing fruits and vegetables market, which today accounts for more than 25% of our sales, is of strategic importance for us,” Sandra Peterson, CEO of Bayer CropScience, said in a news release. She said the company hopes to achieve $3.7 billion sales in the fruit and vegetable segment by 2020 and the investment in AgraQuest underscores that goal.
“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 said in the release.
AgraQuest offers a product portfolio that includes the brands Serenade®, Rhapsody®, Sonata® and Ballad® fungicides and Requiem® insecticides. With 250 full time employees, AgraQuest has a biopesticides production facility in Tlaxcala, Mexico, and a research and development site in Davis, Calif
In June, Bayer CropScience announced it is buying Abbott & Cobb Inc.’s watermelon and melon seed business. The acquisition will help Bayer CropScience strengthen its watermelon business in the U.S., Mexico, Australia and Asia, according to a news release.
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