Libertyville, Illinois
October 1, 2007
Relationship leverages pre- and
post-harvest strengths in fruit, vegetable markets
Valent BioSciences
Corporation (VBC) has acquired a minority interest in
Pace International, a
Seattle-based firm that manufactures and distributes products
used to protect and improve the quality of fruits and vegetables
after harvest.
Valent Biosciences is the global leader in providing biorational
solutions for pre-harvest crop production applications in
specialty crop market segments. Products from VBC include
leading brands of plant growth regulator, microbial and
biochemical active ingredients. This equity investment will give
Pace International and Valent BioSciences opportunities to
co-develop new applications of VBC's active ingredients in the
global post-harvest market segments.
"There is growing consumer demand worldwide for improved fruit
and vegetable quality," says Michael Donaldson, president and
COO of VBC. "VBC leads the global development and
commercialization of biorational products for pre-harvest uses
that enhance the quality and productivity of specialty crops.
This investment will create opportunities to meet that demand in
post-harvest applications by applying technology in innovative
ways, and by leveraging the core competencies of both companies
in the pre- and post-harvest market segments."
In addition to creating new opportunities for VBC technology in
the post-harvest segment, the investment will give Pace
International and its proprietary technology access to VBC's
global marketing network.
"Large producers no longer sell their produce primarily in the
local markets where they are grown. Consumers have grown
accustomed to fresh produce all year long and now everyone
understands the positive health benefits gained by the
consumption of fresh produce. The result has been a sizeable
increase in the demand for post-harvest services worldwide,"
says George Lobisser, president and CEO of Pace. "For the last
few years we have been aggressively growing our technical
service teams as well as heavily investing in R&D. The
additional capital invested by VBC, coupled with access to their
sizeable staff of scientists, will allow us to bring even more
innovation to the market."
Valent BioSciences' agricultural products include pre-harvest
plant growth regulators such as ReTain®, Promalin®, MaxCel®,
Regulex®, Provide®, Prestige® and ProGibb®, biological
insecticides DiPel® and XenTari®, and DiTera® biological
nematicide. Pace International's post-harvest brands include
Natural ShineTM, PrimaFresh®, ShieldBrite® PacRite® and Raynox®.
Valent BioSciences Corporation, headquartered in
Libertyville, Illinois, is a worldwide leader in the research,
development and commercialization of low risk, environmentally
compatible technologies and products for the agricultural,
public health, forestry and household insecticide markets. For
more information on the products offered by Valent BioSciences,
please visit
www.valentbiosciences.com.
Pace International, headquartered in Seattle, Washington,
collaborates with growers, packers and agricultural
organizations to develop innovative solutions to enhance,
protect and preserve fruit and vegetable quality. Pace is the
leading provider of packinghouse and orchard technologies,
equipment and technical services. For more information on the
products of Pace International, please visit
www.paceint.com. |
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