SGS acquires Brazilian firm Gravena

SGS is pleased to announce the acquisition of GRAVENA - Pesquisa, Consultoria e Treinamento Agrícola Ltda. (Gravena), with its headquarters in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Gravena is the leading field trial contract research service provider in Brazil. Its 4 field stations in the main production states and climatic areas of Brazil offer the ideal contract research platform for regulatory and commercial agricultural trials.

Founded in 1993 and privately owned, Gravena employs more than 120 specialists and generated revenues in 2011 in excess of BRL 8 million. This acquisition further strengthens SGS’ comprehensive contract research global offering and expands SGS’ services available in Brazil. It will also create a strong basis for further development in South America.

"It is a pleasure to announce this acquisition which brings to our global network a great deal of expertise and adds one of the most important agricultural countries for field trials, making SGS a global leader in this activity”, said Chris Kirk, CEO of SGS.

"This partnership will help strengthen our current operational set-up and allow our business to grow sustainably towards new markets and new clients, said Prof. Santin Gravena & Dr. Renan Gravena, CEOs of Gravena”.