Spalding, United Kingdom, Langenstein, Germany and Estrées-Saint-Denis, France
August 2013

Elsoms Seeds Limited of Spalding, United Kingdom, Nordsaat Saatzucht GmbH of Langenstein, Germany and Saaten-Union Recherche SAS of Estrées-Saint-Denis, France have announced the launch of a new wheat breeding collaboration aimed at the UK wheat market.

The new breeding programme will draw on the genetics and skills of all three companies and will be undertaken by a new company, Elsoms Wheat Limited. This collaboration is designed to put Elsoms Wheat Limited into the top league of wheat breeding programmes in the UK, with a budget and access to genetics and technologies which will enable it to compete with the leading multi-national companies working in the UK wheat market.

The existing breeding team at Spalding will be expanded and will gain access to a wide range of new material through interaction with the three partner companies as well as to new technologies via the Saaten-Union Biotech Laboratory. This will enable Elsoms Wheat Limited’s breeding programme to become a significantly di-haploid system, thus increasing speed to market.

Elsoms Seeds Limited is the UK's leading independent plant breeding business. The company comprises four main divisions: vegetables, agricultural seeds, seed treatment, and breeding & trials. www.elsoms.com

Nordsaat Saatzucht GmbH is a successful German company, breeding high-yield varieties of winter wheat, hybrid wheat, triticale, winter 
and spring barley and oats. 
In addition to common selling of varieties through its membership of Saaten-Union, individual associates coordinate their breeding, testing and production activities across Europe and offer a wide range of cultivated species with a focus on international markets. www.nordsaat.de

Saaten-Union Recherche SAS is a French plant-breeding operation, breeding both lines and hybrids of winter wheat for the markets of West and Central Europe. Thanks to its unique proprietary Chemical Hybridizing Agent (CHA) CROISOR, the company is a global leader in hybrid wheat, with its varieties planted on 200,000 hectares across Europe. www.saaten-union.com

Verdant Partners Europe advised Elsoms Seed Limited in this transaction.

Website: http://www.elsomswheat.com/

Published: August 27, 2013