Late last week, Syngenta announced the acquisition of Abbott & Cobb, a U.S. owned independent breeder, producer, and marketer of vegetable seeds. Abbott & Cobb has been in the vegetable seeds business in the United States since 1917. They have since grown to supply growers, distributors, retailers, foodservice and others worldwide.In going ahead with the acquisition, Syngenta aims to utilize Abbott & Cobb's expertise, portfolios and pipelines to further expand their presence in the United States, specifically in sweet corn. "Working with Abbott & Cobb will enable Syngenta to increase its ability to innovate and to further enhance its offer to growers," said Javier Martinez-Cabrera (pictured), Syngenta's Head of Vegetable Seeds in North America. "This transaction will strengthen its vegetable seeds business in sweet corn, one of the core crops in which Syngenta has a leading position globally. As a result, Syngenta will strengthen its market presence in the USA, especially in the shipper and high eating quality segments."
Abbott & Cobb have also produced seeds for other significant crops, including peppers and cucumbers. And while the main driver was expanding and strengthening the sweet corn program, Syngenta has indicated that it would like to explore other options once established. "The main driver for Abbott & Cobb's acquisition were all the synergies’ between the sweet corn programs," Martinez-Cabrera said. "Other opportunities will come with the acquisition for sure and we will look to capitalize on them."
The company will be easing into the business and said it will not cause any disruption to existing programs. Martinez-Cabrera added that Syngenta will be looking forward to continuing to find solutions for growers as the acquisition goes into effect. "There will be minimum disruption in the way of doing business for both Abbott & Cobb and for Syngenta," he said. "Further analysis will be done to capitalize every potential opportunity moving forward."Martinez-Cabrera summarized the benefits for the company arising from the take over. “Abbott & Cobb is a strategic acquisition for Syngenta Vegetable Seeds and it will give us access to high eating quality germplasm, as well as early maturity varieties to complement the Syngenta portfolio. We welcome the Abbott & Cobb team into the business and look forward to achieving great things as one team.”
For more information:
Mary Streett DeMers
Syngenta
Tel: +1 (336) 632-2156