St. Louis, Missouri
May 22, 2007
Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) announced today the formation
of the International Seed Group, Inc. (ISG), a holding company
to invest in vegetable and fruit seed businesses with capital
and technology investments.
The cornerstone of the venture is Holland-based
Western Seed, which
specializes in tomato hybrids as well as other vegetable and
fruit crops. In January, ISG also acquired Poloni Semences, a
Charentais melon breeding company based in France. As ISG
operating companies, Western and Poloni will be able to more
directly connect their customers to significant innovations in
breeding while continuing to operate locally, providing great
service to their customers and building the value of their
brands.
"ISG will complement our
Seminis business, providing vegetable growers with greater
access to innovations from the brands they already rely on and
through the distribution channels that they are familiar with,"
noted Kerry Preete, who leads Monsanto's vegetable seed
division, including Seminis and the new holding company.
In the last year, Seminis refocused its business portfolio to 25
key crops, including tomatoes, peppers and melons -- the primary
crops for Western and Poloni. "The ISG platform strengthens our
presence in key crops and in areas that are marked for growth,"
said Preete. "By acquiring Western and Poloni, we improve our
position in greenhouse tomato and pepper production and enter
the high-value European melon market. Additionally, Western and
Poloni's germplasm libraries will be used in tandem with
Seminis' leading global vegetable germplasm resources with the
goal of developing products for farmers and consumers."
Preete continues, "The ISG business model is new to the
vegetable industry, but has been very successful in agronomic
crops in the United States, where regional, often family-run
companies get access to the funding and technology they need to
stay competitive, while maintaining their personal connections
with their customers."
Seed industry veterans Anthony Padgett and David Atkinson are
under contract to manage ISG. Western Seed and Poloni continue
to operate under the direction of their current management.
Alois van Vliet, Managing Director of Western Seed International
BV, continues to lead Western's employees while Guillaume
Lacarriere directs the research and business operations for
Poloni.
Van Vliet said that Western's rapid success in the market is due
to its early adoption of technology and its quick reaction to
customer needs. He plans to maintain this go-to-market
philosophy. "With ISG, we found that we could greatly expand our
technological capabilities, while maintaining the agility of a
small company. This will be good for Western and good for our
customers," said Van Vliet.
Lacarriere said that he expected the pace of innovation in the
Poloni melon research program to greatly increase. "Monsanto and
its Seminis unit are building a tremendous platform for
molecular markers in melons to speed up the breeding process.
Access to the technology and the huge databases that manage the
information should cut the development timelines by years, and
enable us to offer our customers and consumers the highest
quality melons quicker," he said.
Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of
technology-based solutions and agricultural products that
improve farm productivity and food quality. Monsanto's vegetable
division, Seminis, is the world's leading developer, producer
and marketer of vegetable seeds. Its products are designed to
reduce the need for agricultural chemicals, increase crop yield,
reduce spoilage, offer longer shelf life, and create
better-tasting foods and foods with higher nutritional content.
Seminis has a worldwide presence and a global sales and
distribution network that spans 150 countries and territories.
Formed in 2006, International Seed Group, Inc. (ISG) is an
investment holding company that provides specialized, regional
vegetable and fruit seed companies with access to capital and
technology. It is owned by St. Louis- based Monsanto Company.
There are currently two operating companies held by ISG:
Western Seed and Poloni Semences.
Western Seed is a hybrid vegetable seed company, with
administrative and research headquarters in the Netherlands.
Western specializes in tomato for protected and open-field
production and specialty peppers. They also sell melon,
watermelon, eggplant and squash. Western's largest markets
include western and southern Europe, the Middle East and North
Africa as well as Argentina, Mexico and United States.
Poloni Semences, based in southwestern France, specializes in a
range of hybrid Charentais melons, which are sold in France,
Spain, Italy and Morocco. |
|
