Paris, France
July 15, 2008
Australian Grain
Technologies (AGT) has finalised an agreement which will see
Limagrain, through its
plant breeding subsidiary
Vilmorin & Cie, purchase a 25% minority interest in AGT.
Limagrain, a French-based grower-owned cooperative, is a global
leader in plant breeding, seed production and commercialisation.
It is the fourth largest seed company in the world operating
through subsidiaries in more than 30 countries.
AGT Chairman, Ron Storey said the agreement would significantly
improve AGT's ability to deliver on its core business of
providing Australian wheat growers with ongoing gains in
productivity and quality.
"Integrating international expertise into the company has been
an important part of AGT's long term strategic plan and this
agreement will help to ensure AGT remains at the cutting edge of
breeding technology and can capture new market opportunities for
Australian growers," Mr Storey said.
AGT Chief Executive Officer, Dr Stephen Jefferies said the new
relationship with Limagrain was appealing to AGT shareholders
due to the very similar grower and research driven culture
fundamental to both organisations.
"Limagrain is a grower owned cooperative that spends more than
100 million Euro annually on research and development," Dr
Jefferies said.
"Limagrain is a strong believer in innovation being the driving
force behind evolutions in agriculture and has a unique
cooperative attitude to research.
"Its broad plant breeding and seed commercialisation expertise
accumulated over 150 years will help AGT build on its
established strengths in technical skill and germplasm."
Dr Jefferies said AGT would benefit from Limagrain's, direct
connection into the food supply chain, from seed to supermarket,
through its investments in the production and commercialisation
of cereal ingredients and bakery products.
"Limagrain Céréals Ingrédients is the European leader for
functional and natural flours and has recently entered the
market for bio-degradable plastics made from cereals. Through
Jaquet, Limagrain is the second largest industrial baker in
France," Dr Jefferies said.
Through this relationship with Limagrain, AGT will also have the
opportunity to join in collaborative research projects supported
by Céréales Vallée, a European research cluster dedicated to
innovation in cereals.
Limagrain joins current AGT shareholders, the Grains Research
and Development Corporation (GRDC), the South Australian
Research and Development Institute (SARDI), The University of
Adelaide, The University of Sydney, and GrainCorp who all remain
strongly committed to the future success of AGT. The Australian
shareholders will retain 75% ownership of AGT.
Through GRDC, Australian growers are stakeholders in AGT and
GRDC will continue to maintain the largest shareholding in the
company.
"The addition of Limagrain's expertise will help AGT in its
quest to provide Australian growers with the ongoing gains in
productivity, quality and disease resistance they have come to
expect from us. This is a great extension of more than 100 years
of plant breeding service by AGT and its predecessors to
Australian growers" said Dr Jefferies.
Australian Grain Technologies (AGT) arose from an industry
led restructure of several long running public sector wheat
breeding programs. AGT has since become a leading Australian
wheat breeding entity. AGT and its predecessors have more than a
century of experience in plant breeding, plant breeding related
research, and commercial variety development. Our team of
experienced plant breeders combine the latest developments in
plant breeding and genetic technologies with traditional plant
breeding principles, resulting in wheat and triticale varieties
with superior quality and agronomic performance. AGTs success
depends on its ability to meet the current and future needs of
the Australian grains industry and the demands of growers and
their markets. With comprehensive wheat breeding operations
based in all of Australia's major wheat production zones, it is
a truly national enterprise striving to meet the needs of
Australian cereal producers. www.ausgraintech.com
Limagrain, through Vilmorin & Cie, is the fourth largest seed
company in the world, is the European leader in field crop seed
and number two in the world in vegetable seeds. Through
subsidiaries, Limagrain has seed businesses in more than 30
countries but also has international partnerships with research
organisations in many countries including the Netherlands,
Germany, the UK, USA, France and Australia. Limagrain is also a
major partner in three important biotechnology companies -
Biogemma, Keygene and Genoplante. Limagrain Céréals Ingrédients
is the European leader for functional and natural flours and
through Jaquet, Limagrain is the second largest industrial baker
in France.
Vilmorin renforce son expertise en blé
en entrant au capital d'Australian Grain Technologies (AGT)
Vilmorin vient de
conclure un partenariat stratégique avec la société australienne
Australian Grain
Technologies (AGT).
En concertation avec les autres actionnaires d’AGT, Vilmorin
prend une participation à hauteur de 25 % du capital de la
société. Par ailleurs, Vilmorin et AGT développeront
conjointement, dès les prochains mois, de nouveaux programmes de
recherche et d’échanges de technologies portant sur
l’amélioration du blé.
Née en 2002 de la fusion de différentes entités publiques et
privées, AGT est devenue le leader australien de la sélection,
du développement et de la commercialisation de variétés
innovantes de blé.
Ses actionnaires sont GRDC (Grains Research and Development
Corporation), SARDI (South Australian Research and Development
Institute), les Universités d’Adelaïde et de Sydney ainsi que
Grain Corporation Pty Ltd.
Comme le souligne Adrian HUIGE, Directeur Général Délégué de
Vilmorin : « Cette opération constitue une étape importante du
développement de nos activités en semences de blé.
Déjà leader européen en céréales à paille (blé, orge), Vilmorin
renforce, au travers du partenariat avec AGT, l’ouverture
internationale de ces activités à de nouveaux marchés, ainsi que
son accès à de nouvelles ressources. »
Quatrième semencier mondial, Vilmorin est expert dans la
création de plantes potagères et de grandes cultures innovantes.
Guidé par une vision responsable de son développement, Vilmorin
s’appuie sur sa capacité de recherche et une croissance soutenue
à l’international pour renforcer sa position d’acteur mondial.
Cotée sur Euronext Paris (compartiment A), l’action Vilmorin
fait partie des indices Next 150, CAC Mid 100, SBF 250 et est
éligible au SRD.
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