Vilmorin Clause & Cie S.A., Bio Seeds B.V. and Keygene N.V. announced today that Vilmorin Clause & Cie has become a shareholder of Bio Seeds, a consortium of a number of leading Dutch seed companies. Bio Seeds holds all shares of the genomics and biotechnology company Keygene N.V. and by participating in Bio Seeds, Vilmorin Clause & Cie acquired 20 % of the shares of Keygene.

As a shareholder of Bio Seeds, Vilmorin Clause & Cie also acquires entrance to Keygene's proprietary technology and other assets, e.g. bio-informatics tools and genetic database.

"We are enthusiastic about a unique opportunity to collaborate with major Dutch seed companies in biotechnology through our participation in Keygene," said Mr. Pierre Lefebvre, C.E.O. of Vilmorin Clause & Cie. "We know this collaboration will considerably increase our common potential in genomics, through the development of Keygene’s tremendous skills in this field, and their implementation in our proprietary vegetable germplasm".

Ben Tax, President of Bio Seeds is very pleased with the cooperation with the French company. "With this new alliance we have created a very strong consortium, especially in the field of vegetable seeds. Our joint efforts in plant biotechnology through Keygene will provide the shareholders of Bio Seeds with significant competitive advantage".

CEO of Keygene N.V., Hans Dons stated: "Keygene is pleased by the fact that one of the world's major seed companies recognizes the quality of our DNA technology, our assets in bio-informatics and our extensive genetic databases. This enforcement in shareholders will significantly contribute to strengthen Keygene's leading position in plant genomics."

Vilmorin Clause & Cie is world leader in the field of vegetable and flower seeds. It has worldwide locations and a large range of products, under prestigious brands, which are well known for their quality. Clause/Tézier – Vilmorin/Nickerson Zwaan – Harris Moran – Henderson - Kyowa are among the operating entities of Vilmorin Clause & Cie. Vilmorin Clause & Cie is listed on the Second Market of the Paris Stock Exchange and is included in the Second Market and SBF 250 indices.

Bio Seeds is a consortium of the seed companies Cebeco Seeds, ENZA seeds, De Ruiter Seeds, Rijk Zwaan and now Vilmorin Clause & Cie. Via this collaboration the companies cooperate in important aspects of plant biotechnology with Keygene. Bio Seeds holds all shares in Keygene N.V.

Keygene is a leading genomics company focusing on the structure and function of genetic information. Keygene has developed a strong proprietary technology platform including AFLP®, a DNA marker technology for genome analysis and genetic analysis. Based on AFLP, Keygene has also developed cDNA-AFLP, a robust high throughput transcript profiling technology. Keygene exploits technologies, bio-informatics tools and genomic databases through contract research, services and products for wide applications in life science based industries.

Vilmorin Clause & Cie entre au capital de Bio Seeds BV et devient opérateur de référence de Keygene NV, société de biotechnologies et de génomique végétales.

Vilmorin Clause & Cie, Bio Seeds BV (Pays-Bas) et Keygene NV (Pays-Bas) viennent de conclure une alliance qui se traduit par l’entrée de Vilmorin Clause & Cie , à hauteur de 20 %, dans le capital de Bio Seeds.
Bio Seeds est l’actionnaire unique de Keygene, société néerlandaise de biotechnologies et de génomique végétales.
Par cette prise de participation dans Bio Seeds, Vilmorin Clause & Cie devient ainsi un des opérateurs de référence de Keygene.

A ce titre, Vilmorin Clause & Cie acquiert un accès immédiat à toutes les technologies propres de Keygene, à ses bases de données génétiques ainsi qu’à l’ensemble de ses outils en bio- informatique.
Cet accord renforce instantanément et significativement l’arsenal des outils scientifiques mis à la
disposition des équipes de recherche de Vilmorin Clause & Cie pour créer, plus rapidement, de
nouvelles variétés de légumes mieux adaptés aux besoins de ses marchés dans le monde entier. Il permet, de plus, la mise en oeuvre de travaux d’envergure mondiale pour demeurer à l’avant-garde des progrès en biotechnologies.

Pour Bio Seeds et Keygene, cette alliance avec Vilmorin Clause & Cie marque le succès et l’intérêt scientifique de ces technologies et va contribuer au renforcement de la position de leader de Keygene en génomique végétale.