Monsanto Acquiring Vegetable Seed Company

Monsanto Acquiring Vegetable Seed Company
April 1, 2008

Monsanto has announced that it will buy the Netherlands-based De Ruiter Seeds Group B.V., which operates De Ruiter Seeds, for US$860 million (546 million euros), says a Reuters news story on Planet Ark. The company focuses on seeds for greenhouse vegetable production, which Monsanto notes is the fastest-growing area of the vegetable seed industry. With this new purchase, Monsanto is increasing its involvement in the vegetable seed arena, which began with the purchase of Seminis in 2005. According to the Reuters story, that purchase gave Monsanto control over more than 30 percent of the North American vegetable seed market, as well as more than 20 percent of the world's tomato seed market and more than 30 percent of the global hot pepper seed market.

St. Louis-based Monsanto said it will finance the acquisition with cash, and the deal should boost Monsanto's earnings and revenue by the second full fiscal year following closure of the acquisition.

The move comes three years after Monsanto began aggressively moving into the vegetable seed arena with the $1.4 billion purchase in 2005 of California-based Seminis, which gave Monsanto control over more than 30 percent of the North American vegetable seed market, as well as more than 20 percent of the world's tomato seed market and more than 30 percent of the global hot pepper seed market.

Last year, Monsanto formed the International Seed Group Inc (ISG) as a holding company for the company's growing investments in regional vegetable and fruit seed businesses.

Unlike the Seminis business, which is primarily directed at the open-field vegetable market, the bulk of De Ruiter's business is for greenhouse growers, known as the "protected culture market," which Monsanto said is the fastest-growing area of the vegetable seed industry today.

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/47728/story.htm