Bayer CropScience acquires rapeseed business of Germany-based seed company Raps GbR for undisclosed amount; Bayer plans to launch first rapeseed varieties onto European market in 2012

Andrew Rogers

MONHEIM, Germany , October 7, 2011 (press release) – Bayer CropScience has successfully completed the acquisition of the oilseed rape business of the seed company Raps GbR, headquartered in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. This mainly includes varieties that are already on the market and the company’s breeding material. The acquisition strengthens the oilseed rape breeding activities of Bayer CropScience. Financial details were not disclosed.

For a number of years now, Bayer has pursued its own breeding program for winter oilseed rape. In North America the company is a market leader in seed, plant traits and crop protection products for canola. The business is currently being expanded to other oilseed rape-growing areas, including Europe and countries in Southeast Asia. Bayer CropScience aims to launch the first oilseed rape varieties onto the European market in 2012 – initially in the Czech Republic and then possibly in other European countries.

“The agreement with Raps GbR – which has more than 20 years of breeding experience, a broad portfolio of varieties and an experienced workforce – is an important step for our oilseed rape strategy,” said Bayer CropScience CEO Sandra E. Peterson. “It will further accelerate Bayer CropScience’s entry into the European oilseed rape market.”

Raps GbR Managing Director Sören A. Petersen added, “We are pleased that our decades of successful breeding activities and our development pipeline will now be maintained and expanded by a strong partner. The agreement with Bayer CropScience will mean an even greater offer of varieties that will fully meet the future needs of farmers.”

About Bayer CropScience
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience, a subgroup of Bayer AG with annual sales of EUR 6.830 billion (2010), is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and traits. The company offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of 20,700 and is represented in more than 120 countries.

About Raps GbR
A subsidiary of P.H. Petersen Saatzucht Lundsgaard GmbH & Co. KG, Raps GbR focuses on the breeding of winter and spring oilseed rape. The international focus of its spring and winter oilseed rape breeding program produces a multitude of high-performance line and hybrid varieties. By specializing in oilseed rape breeding, the company is able to develop traits and properties to suit specific soil characteristics, climates and processing options. The company’s successful breeding of “00” quality oilseed rape is based on modern breeding techniques.

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