Growers devoted to the production of horticultural crops are going to see a new change in the ownership of one of its seeds suppliers, the old Sluis & Groot, now Syngenta; this could happen soon, according to the information that Hortoinfo has had access to.
Negotiations are currently at a very advanced stage and a buyer is expected to be announced shortly.
After the Switzerland-based firm rejected a 47,000 billion dollar bid by Monsanto, the president of Syngenta, Michel Demare, announced a series of measures on 3 September to drive up the stock price of the company, including getting rid of the global vegetable seed business.
The company CEO, Mike Mack, pointed out that the sale of the seed department, "with high margins and a wide range of excellent varieties," could add value to the rest of the group.
Mack affirmed that while Syngenta's flower and vegetable seeds business has high profit margins, "it is not part of the comprehensive strategy" of the Swiss group, which consists of selling seeds and phytosanitary products together, since seeds are used to cultivate plants and crops in greenhouses, with little need for chemicals.
Syngenta's vegetable seed business in 2014 accounted for 663 million Euro in sales, while in global terms, including other field crops such as corn and soybeans, sales were worth 3,160 million Euro.
History of Syngenta Seeds
The story begins in 1867, when two Dutch producers, Sluis and Groot, decided to form a partnership in the city of Andijk to create a breeder of flowers and vegetable seeds, Sluis & Groot, which would later become the flagship firm of the company Zaadunie.
In 1980, the Swiss multinational Sandoz acquired the Zaadunie group, changing, after a relatively long process, the Sluis & Groot brand into S&G. Sandoz, which had been founded in 1886 as a chemical company, entered the agro-business in 1939 with the development of pesticides, which first hit the market in 1943.
In 1996, there was a merger between Sandoz and Ciba which formed the company Novartis, which in turn merged with Astra Zeneca in the year 2000 to form Syngenta. We look forward to seeing what the new name will be for the company originally created by two Dutch farmers.
Source: hortoinfo.es
