West Des Moines, Iowa, USA
January 28, 2013

The Context Network announced it has reached an agreement with GfK’s Animal and Crop Health division to transfer assets of Context’s Global Seed Market Database (GSMD) and the Global Seed Sector Outlooks (GSSO) for major global field and vegetable crops to GfK.

Context’s Partner, Mark Nelson specified, “Both Context and GfK are very pleased to have completed this milestone agreement for both parties. Looking forward, Context remains focused on being the premier provider of management consulting services for its agricultural clients world-wide. GfK is empowered to further exercise its unique skills in quantitative tracking studies with the integration of these seed and trait reports.”

GfK’s Stephen Hearn said, “As the needs for business intelligence evolve from tracking crop input markets to monitoring and forecasting emerging crop management solutions, this asset integration enhances GfK market insights in the global seed market, complementing its similar industry-leading presence in the global crop protection market.” Nelson added, “At the same time, it enables both companies to focus on their specialized strengths and opens doors for closer working relations in the future.”

To assure continuity, both Context and GfK have committed to a specific transition period during which the companies will work fully together to co-brand the production and sales of the seed studies. Nelson stated, “Both companies are committed to a seamless transfer of the assets, with Context supporting a number of key aspects of the acquired studies through the transition period of their production. Consequently, clients can expect uninterrupted continuity of the service in 2013, with benefits created from the integration of GfK expertise already being planned for the years to come.”

Nelson reinforced that Context will continue to provide specialized, qualitative syndicated studies to clients. “The sale of the GSMD and GSSO quantitative tracking studies represents only a portion of Context’s report offering. Our development of innovative, intensive investigations serving specific clients and market segments, such as plant biotechnology, protected culture, precision agriculture and agricultural retailers in North and South America were not included in this agreement. We will continue to deliver cutting-edge qualitative insights through our multi-client reports, and to focus on our core as a global leader in agricultural strategic management consulting.”

GfK is one of the world’s largest research companies, with more than 12,000 staff working to discover new insights into the way people live, think and shop, in over 100 markets, every day. GfK is constantly innovating and using the latest technologies and the smartest methodologies to give its clients the clearest understanding of the most important people in the world: their customers. In 2011, GfK’s sales amounted to €1.37 billion.

The Context Network provides business management and strategy consulting services to the world’s leading agriculture, biotechnology and food companies and government agencies and institutions. Major areas of expertise include strategy, merger and acquisition support, valuation of new technologies, formation of alliances, and market research. The West Des Moines-based firm is composed of a core of professional consultants that is complemented by a network of hundreds of industry and subject-area experts around the world.

Website: http://www.contextnet.com

Published: January 29, 2013