Dow AgroSciences has bolstered its Latin American seed presence with the acquisition of Empresa Brasileira de Sementes (EBS) located in Sao Paulo, Brazil. EBS, which was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zeneca Lambda, operates an established infrastructure for breeding, development, production and sale of corn and grain sorghum seeds in Brazil. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

"This acquisition strengthens our efforts to build a global network to market and commercialize seed and biotechnology traits,'' says Pete Siggelko, Global Leader for Plant Genetics & Biotechnology at Dow AgroSciences. "Brazil offers a great opportunity for our technologies and we are very pleased to be able to continue to expand our presence in this country.''

Siggelko says current Dow AgroSciences seed holdings in Brazil include Hibridos Colorado, FT Biogenetica, Hibridos Hata and Dinamilho. He says the addition of EBS not only expands business in Brazil, it also provides broader capabilities for developing tropical corn germplasm.

EBS was formed in 1972 by Continental Grain. The original business, known as ContiBrasil was acquired by ICI plc in the early 1990's and was subsequently de-merged in 1993 as part of Zeneca Group plc. EBS was officially formed as a stand-alone legal entity in 1996 in anticipation of the worldwide seed joint venture between Zeneca Group plc (U.K.) and Royal VanderHave Group B.V. (Netherlands).

Dow AgroSciences LLC, based in Indianapolis, Ind., USA, is a global leader in providing pest management and biotechnology products that improve the quality and quantity of the earth's food supply and contribute to the safety, health and quality of life of the world's growing population. Dow AgroSciences has approximately 6,000 people in over 50 countries dedicated to its business, and has worldwide sales of more than US $2 billion. Dow AgroSciences is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company. 

Company news release
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