Seconderabad, AP, India and
Hereford, Texas
March 4, 2008
Advanta India Limited
announced today that, through
Advanta Holding BV,
Netherlands, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, it has
acquired 100% of the business of Garrison & Townsend, LP,
(“Garrison & Townsend”) Hereford, Texas, USA.
For many years Advanta and Garrison & Townsend have been
collaborating closely in sorghum research.
Garrison & Townsend has a strong presence in the Grain Sorghum
market generating about 32% of its revenue, and forage sorghum
(BMR sorghum and Sorghum Sudan) generating about 67% of its
revenue. This acquisition bolsters Advanta’s already significant
presence in sorghum worldwide by giving it access to the USA and
Mexican markets and providing a USA production base. The
strengths of Garrison & Townsend in sorghum in the USA and
Mexico get further boosted with the addition of Advanta’s
extremely strong and diverse sorghum portfolio from the global
markets.
Sorghum is the fifth largest cereal grain in the world and is
playing an important role in the expansion of bio energy
globally. It is significantly more drought and heat tolerant
than corn and so fills a crucial role across the more arid parts
of the world.
Garrison & Townsend is a company with hybrid grain and forage
sorghum research, production, conditioning, and sales
operations. The company markets its products through various
private label brands. Its products are marketed throughout the
United States as well as in Italy, the Middle East, Pakistan,
Mexico, Central America, South America and Japan. The top ten
customers of Garrison & Townsend contribute about 60% of its
revenue.
The fiscal year 2007, Garrison & Townsend achieved a sale of
about US$ 11million with an impressive profitability.
Garrison & Townsend is efficiently operated with 27 full-time
employees with additional hands and contractors during peak
production and processing season.
“We are very excited about this acquisition which gives us a
foothold in the US markets. Sorghum throws up an interesting
opportunity for us at this point of time” said Mr. V.R.
Kaundinya, CEO of Advanta.
Advanta is an India based global seed company that combines
the benefits of agricultural biotechnology with the proprietary
crop genetics and excellent breeding capabilities of the company
to offer world class high quality seed products and solutions to
the farmers in different parts of the world. It markets a broad
range grain and forage sorghum products throughout the Indian
sub continent, Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe, and Latin
America. Advanta has over 700 employees and is represented in
more than 30 countries. Advanta is a member of the United
Phosphorous Group of Companies. |
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