Press Releases

Germain's (UK) Ltd., a subsidiary of Associated British Foods plc. announced today that it had acquired 100% of the shareholding of the independent family-owned company, International Seed Technology (IST).

IST specializes in custom coating and germination enhancement of vegetable, flower and tobacco seed and its core business lies in customized seed pelleting for third parties, mainly breeder-producers of vegetable and flower seeds. Corporate headquarters are in Aalten, Holland, with additional production facilities in Germany, Spain and the USA.

Germain's (UK) was established in 1966 and is the world's largest independent seed pelleting and coating specialist. The headquarters of the Company's worldwide activities is based in Kings Lynn, UK, with additional plants in Ireland, Poland and the USA. The Company has a total of seven production facilities, of which four are in the USA, where the business operates under the name of Seed Systems. These plants provide a range of technology packages for seed enhancement to pelleting and coating for a wide sector of the agricultural and horticultural industry. It addition to operating its own facilities, Germain's also has technology licenses and turnkey projects in Japan, Italy and Romania.

Paul Ayres, Managing Director of Germain's (UK), comments:

"This acquisition marks a significant point in the continuing growth of the Germain's Business Group. The combination of specialist technology that exists within Germain's and IST will serve to provide a complete and comprehensive product range to meet our customers' and end users' needs for the agricultural and horticultural market. Together, the Companies will continue to meet the ever-increasing product demand with quality and service through a strong programme of Research and Development backed by a committed approach to further investment."

In Europe, both Germain's and IST will continue to operate form their respective sites and will provide all current catalogue products for the immediate future. In the USA, the IST business will be transferred to the Seed System's site in Gilroy, California.

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