Syngenta completes acquisition of Devgen

This would boost Syngenta's hybrid rice portfolio in India and other countries

Swiss agro group Syngenta today said it has completed the acquisition of Belgian hybrid seed firm Devgen for 403 million euros and this would boost its hybrid rice portfolio in India and other countries.

"Syngenta announced a public offer to buy Devgen in September last year. The acquisition is now complete and we are in the process of integrating the two organisation," Syngenta India Ltd Vice President K C Ravi told PTI.

This acquisition is the "biggest" in Syngenta's history and will address the problems of many farmers across India and South Asia, he said.

Devgan has premium rice hybrids, which will bring immediate benefits to growers, when brought together with Syngenta's crop protection portfolio, he said, adding the acquisition will broaden the rice pipelines and further enable the development of integrated solutions for farmers.

"Rice is critical to global food security and Syngenta's strategy has been to accelerate investment in rice breeding to increasing yields," he added.

Syngenta had offered 16 euros per share for Devgan, valuing the Belgian hybrid rice seed producer at 403 million euros (around Rs 3,442 crore at current exchange rate) in total. The Swiss firm had also offered to buy all outstanding warrants of Devgen and its RNAi technology.

The company said: "Devgen's research in RNAi technology (which is a naturally occurring mechanism used for the regulation of specific genes) will help Syngenta expand the offerings in insect control solutions in a range of crops."

Furthermore, nematode control is an increasing problem for growers in rice and Devgen's nematicide will help in addressing this critical problem for rice growers, it said.

Devgen's crop portfolios in sunflower, sorghum, pearl millet and cotton will also offer new options for growers in South Asia, it added.

Besides agri-seeds, Syngenta sells products in all the major areas of crop protection in India and other countries.