Modesto, California
October 24, 2000

Harris Moran Seed Company has teamed up with a sister company and SNA, an established agricultural supplier in Chile, to form Alliance Semillas.

Headquartered in Santiago, the newly created vegetable seed distribution company will sell exclusively the products of Harris Moran and Clause Semences of France. Modesto, CA-based Harris Moran and Clause are owned by Groupe Limagrain, a 150-year-old French cooperative.

The setup of Alliance Semillas further develops an existing relationship among SNA, Clause and Harris Moran. SNA already handles Harris Moran and Clause/Tezier products.

The formation of the new company will be based on the existing distributorship of SNA. The personnel, assets, and inventories will be transferred into the new company.

Thomas Prata, HM’s director of international sales, will be president of Alliance and Mr. Manuel Bacigalupo will be general manager.

Franck Berger, vice president of sales and marketing for Harris Moran, said the Chilean partnership is the latest growth opportunity for Harris Moran. Just last month, Harris Moran formed a partnership with Kyowa of Japan.

"This latest venture in the Southern Hemisphere illustrates Harris Moran’s commitment to South America," says Berger. "We expect good things to happen."

Company news release
N3074