BASF’s vegetable seeds business closes acquisition of melon breeding company ASL

BASF’s vegetable seeds business and ASL, one of the most innovative melon breeding companies in the world, completed the acquisition of ASL by BASF. Before starting to work out the details of the acquisition, the two companies had already been working together successfully for more than three decades.

The transaction with the privately-owned French company based near Avignon, covers all the aspects of ASL’s current business, including seed production, intellectual property rights, germplasm, research and development facilities as well as staff.

With this acquisition, BASF will continue to be able to develop new innovative concepts of healthy and tasty melons, which can contribute to consumers’ loyalty to our partners in the value chain. ″The acquisition of ASL strengthens our market position and creates new opportunities for growth of our hybrid melon seed portfolio marketed under the Nunhems® brand,″ said Maximilian Becker, Senior Vice President of BASF’s vegetable seeds business. ″With the expertise and knowledge of the colleagues joining, we will be able to offer a broader and more innovative Page 2 January 3, 2023 melon pipeline to our value chain partners and consumers.″

ASL is specialized in orange flesh type melons, such as the Cantaloup and Charentais types including the successful varieties Magenta, Red Falcon, Torum, Bernini and the Golden Cantaloup, covering the major markets around the world. The seed production and breeding facilities near Avignon will now be integrated into BASF’s existing network of 23 breeding stations for vegetable seeds worldwide, creating the first R&D location for breeding and screening in France.

Financial details of the transaction are not disclosed.