March 28, 2011
Bayer CropScience to buy Hornbeck Seed Company
Bayer CropScience has entered into an agreement to purchase Hornbeck Seed Company Inc. (HBK), a privately-held company headquartered in DeWitt, Arkansas, USA.
Hornbeck is a seed company supplying soy, rice, and wheat varieties in the southern US-market, with an in-house soy breeding program and proprietary soy germplasm. Bayer CropScience will acquire the seed businesses and gain access to quality soy germplasm for future variety and trait development. Financial details were not disclosed.
Since its founding in the early 1980s, Hornbeck has grown into one of the Mid-South's most reputable seed suppliers. The company is known for providing high-quality seed and excellent service to customers across Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
For Bayer CropScience, the acquisition is a logical step in a series of investment decisions addressing the needs of southern growers, and in particular soy growers. Further milestones were the Stoneville Pedigreed Seed acquisition in 2007, the M.S. Technologies collaboration in soys in 2007, the launch of LibertyLink® soys in 2009 and the Athenix Corp. acquisition in 2009.
Hornbeck's focus on breeding top yielding soy varieties, combined with Bayer CropScience's active trait research and development pipeline, including herbicide-tolerance and insect- and nematode resistance programmes specific to soy, will strengthen Bayer CropScience's position as a provider of value-added seeds and traits. Additionally, the acquisition will bring to Bayer CropScience new talent and expertise in the areas of soy breeding and licensing, as well as in soy, rice and wheat seed production, seed processing and agronomic services.
Bayer CropScience's proprietary traits will be introgressed and commercialised via Hornbeck's soy germplasm base and high quality breeding programme. Hornbeck varieties with the LibertyLink® trait will continue to be a key near term area of focus of the breeding programme to help address weed resistance in the southern US soy market.
"Soy is a strategically important crop for Bayer CropScience, and this acquisition is an important first step towards realising a fully integrated soy business. Hornbeck has a strong seed business and an excellent reputation in the marketplace, and the addition of this company to the Bayer CropScience team will allow us to serve soy-farmers with complete solutions of seed, seed treatment, traits and crop protection solutions," said Sandra E. Peterson, Chairman of the Board of Management at Bayer CropScience. "We have already a very successful cotton, canola and vegetable seed business in the US, and we have initiated research to improve wheat breeding in the US as well. We will now further complement these activities by adding seeds for soy."
"We are excited to have the opportunity to join the Bayer CropScience organisation for a host of reasons - not the least of which is the reputation and reach of the company, and its commitment to providing innovative solutions to growers throughout the southern region of the US," said Troy Hornbeck, Chief Operations Officer, Hornbeck Seed. "By joining forces with Bayer CropScience, we can build on the Hornbeck tradition of offering innovative products, and look forward to providing an expanding array of high-quality products and to maintaining our strong relationships and long tradition of excellent customer service."
