VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA: Nufarm, the Australian agricultural chemicals supplier has expanded its involvement in seeds by buying an American sunflower seed company for $US55.2 million ($A53.83 million).
The company said that Minnesota-based Seeds 2000 was a sunflower seed research and production company with annual revenues of about $US20 million.
Nufarm's subsidiary Nuseed develops canola, sunflower, and sorghum products to enhance food and feed value through seed technology.
It has existing sunflower breeding and marketing operations based in California, Argentina and Australia and recently purchased breeding and germplasm assets of the Super Seeds sunflower business in Serbia.
The company said in a statement that sunflower was an important oilseed and snack food crop, producing about 32 million metric tonnes of grain annually.
Mr Rathbone, chief executive said the Seeds 2000 acquisition would complement the company's position in sunflower and its strong confectionary sunflower operations.
Nufarm is one of the world's leading agricultural chemical company, with operations in all corners of the globe. The company holds more than 2,100 product registrations, and markets products in more than 100 countries around the world.
The company is a global leader in the manufacture and marketing of phenoxies, a class of herbicides that control and eradicate broad-leafed weeds.
© WOC News