Ames, Iowa, USA
March 21, 2013

Becker Underwood announced today a joint research grant partnership with South Africa’s University of Pretoria and Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF). The company awarded $200,000 over the next four years to support approximately eight agricultural sciences students’ research grant projects at the University of Pretoria. The grants awarded today will help develop a network of qualified staff for agricultural product registrations.

“We spent almost a year looking at investment opportunities in the educational systems located in the communities we operate in and we identified an opportunity to partner with the University of Pretoria to address a skills shortage in the South African agriculture market,” says Daniel Krohn, global sustainability lead for Becker Underwood. “We feel that our investment will produce a younger generation of educated, research-driven leaders in agriculture which is essential to the country's competitiveness globally.”

“We have a wonderful opportunity to develop talent that will have a positive impact in South Africa through participation in our joint program,” says Peter Innes, CEO of Becker Underwood. “I am very excited to follow the progress over the next four years. We have an opportunity to show the world that partnerships like ours with the University of Pretoria and DAFF are possible and can deliver positive results, to the benefit of a broad constituency.”

The joint research grant program is part of the company’s Sustainable Ventures Initiative — a program aimed at investing the resources of Becker Underwood into sustainable development opportunities that generate financial returns to the business and improve the quality of life for the communities in which we operate.

To document the progress of the program from beginning to end, the company has released the video “Opening Doors”.

About Becker Underwood
BASF acquired Becker Underwood from Norwest Equity Partners. The acquisition has been completed and Becker Underwood is now part of BASF.
Becker Underwood is the global leader in the development of beneficial nematodes, as well as other plant health products and nutrients. Its core competency is the rapid commercialization of breakthrough research and development. The development of efficient and effective manufacturing processes and know-how in biological formulations have been developed over the company’s 30-year history. Becker Underwood has grown into a multinational company with fourteen locations in five continents. Despite its growth, however, the company’s fundamental philosophy has not changed — to supply high-quality products that create value for its customers. Its products can be found in over 70 countries. While the company has many products and services, it operates in seven primary product families: BioStacked Technology, Inoculants, Seed Coatings, Biological Crop Protection, Livestock Management Products, Landscape Colorants and Coatings, and Turf and Horticulture.

About BASF
BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Through science and innovation, we enable our customers in nearly every industry to meet the current and future needs of society. Our products and solutions contribute to conserving resources, ensuring nutrition and improving quality of life. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASF posted sales of €78.7 billion in 2012 and had more than 113,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.

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Published: March 21, 2013