Idemitsu To Buy Midsize Pesticide Firm SDS Biotech KK

Date:05-12-2011

Idemitsu Kosan Co. (5019) said Tuesday that it will turn pesticide manufacturer SDS Biotech KK (4952) into a consolidated subsidiary via a tender offer.

In the tender offer, which will run from Wednesday through June 8, Idemitsu will pay 960 yen per share. An investment fund affiliated with Mizuho Financial Group Inc. (8411) that owns 53% of SDS Biotech agreed Wednesday to offer its shares. Idemitsu will spend 4 billion yen to buy the fund's stake.

Idemitsu, which intends to keep SDS Biotech listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's second section, has not set a ceiling for the total number of shares it will buy, so the purchase price could swell.

SDS Biotech rang up 11.4 billion yen in sales in 2010, making it Japan's No. 16 pesticide maker. It earns 30% of its sales abroad.

Idemitsu seeks to boost sales in its agricultural biotechnology business, which is focused on pesticides, to 5 billion yen in fiscal 2012, and will use its purchase of SDS Biotech to spur growth in this field in Asia and elsewhere overseas.