Biopesticide expansion expected from SDS/ Idemitsu alliance

SDS Biotech, which became Idemitsu Kosan’s consolidated subsidiary after the completion of a tender offer in June (AgroNews 2011-05-12), has formed a working group with Idemitsu and holds high hopes for R&D and sales synergies leading to the global expansion of their business in biological pesticides, particularly in Asia.

The two companies’ combined sales of biological agrochemicals account for about one-third of the domestic market, placing them top in Japan. They intend to make the most of their size and to invest management resources into biological pesticides, whose market is projected to grow further with application of integrated pest management.

Idemitsu’s board of directors decided in a May 10 , meeting to proceed with the tender offer, which ran from May 11 to June 8, making it SDS’s top shareholder with about 70% of shares. Prior to the tender offer, the two companies concluded a capital and business collaboration agreement that covered the joint development of large-scale new agents, including natural agrochemicals; development and sale of produces for Idemitsu Agri; and support from Idemitsu Kosan in case of SDS acquiring a large-scale agent. Idemitsu Kosan formed Idemitsu Agri as a joint venture with Tokai Bussan in April to sell agricultural and greenery materials as well as cultivation materials and facilities.

Among SDS’s notable products are Daconil, a fungicide, and herbicides with benzobicyclon as the active ingredient. The products of Idemitsu Kosan, whose Agri-Bio business covers agriculture, greenery, livestock and farm products, include its Tough Block microbial fungicide and Botokiller wettable-powder microbial fungicide.