AgroPages-Bayer to acquire the seed business of Granar S.A.-Agricultural news

Bayer to acquire the seed business of Granar S.A.

Bayer CropScience announced that it has entered into an agreement to purchase the seed business of Granar S.A., based in Encarnacion, Paraguay. The private company, founded in 2001, specializes in the breeding, production and marketing especially of improved soybean seeds adapted to the growing conditions that prevail in subtropical regions. Granar S.A. has a strong presence in Paraguay and Uruguay and a growing presence in Brazil. It employs approximately 50 people. Financial details were not disclosed.

Especially important is the acquisition of the Igra Semillas brand of Granar S.A. Since it was founded, Granar S.A. and its Igra Semillas brand have established a solid presence in the Paraguayan market.

Granar S.A. will continue to be responsible for marketing Igra seed in 2014. Bayer will start selling the Igra Semillas brand from 2015. This important acquisition will enable Bayer CropScience to enter the soybean seed market in Paraguay for the first time, putting the company in a position to offer farmers a complete package for this crop.

"Soybeans are a crop with great strategic importance for the region and for Bayer CropScience. This acquisition gives us access to quality germplasm for future variety and trait development," said Eduardo Estrada, Head of Bayer CropScience Latin America. "With our current portfolio of products and with the Granar S.A. added-value varieties, we now find ourselves in a position where we can provide Paraguayan soybean farmers with a complete range of solutions which includes seed, crop protection products and services."

For Bayer CropScience, this acquisition represents one more step towards achieving an international platform of excellence in soybean seed, and it also underscores the importance of the Latin American region in this context. Over the past three years, the company has announced various acquisitions in Latin America, including the germplasm bank of Agropastoril Melhoramento, the soybean companies Wehrtec and SoyTech, the plant breeding technology of CVR (all in Brazil), and the purchase of FN Semillas S.A. in Argentina.

"Our acquisitions mean that we will be able to offer Latin American farmers the most modern developments in our portfolio of soybean traits in highly competitive local varieties," said Estrada. "Building on an expanded portfolio of soybean varieties and on our international-level research on plant traits, we will be able to provide farmers with a wide range of maturity levels, adopted to the diverse growing conditions which prevail in the region."