India’s Crystal Crop Protection Ltd has bought three seed brands from Swiss agribusiness Syngenta AG, for an undisclosed amount, the agrochemical company said.
The brands -- Mahalaxmi (sorghum), Atheeva (pearl millet) and SX-17 (fodder sorghum) -- have been acquired from the Swiss firm’s Indian unit, Syngenta India Ltd.
Syngenta AG is one of the leading agribusinesses in the world.
Ankur Aggarwal, managing director at Crystal Crop Protection, said the acquisition will strengthen the company’s seed portfolio.
Incorporated in 1994, Delhi-based Crystal Crop Protection is primarily engaged in the manufacturing and distribution of agrochemicals, seeds, farm equipment, and others. The company has five manufacturing units – two each in Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir, and one in Gujarat.
It has a country-wide network of 7,000 distributors.
In 2011, private equity firm Everstone Capital had given Rs 150 crore ($30 million) for a 9% stake in Crystal Crop Protection.
Earlier this year, Crystal Crop Protection acquired a manufacturing unit from Cytec India Specialty Chemicals and Materials Pvt. Ltd for Rs 96.7 crore ($15 million).
Cytec India Specialty Chemicals is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brussels-based Solvay SA.
In 2016, Crystal Crop Protection acquired a fungicide brand from German chemicals maker BASF.
In 2012, the company acquired a pesticide brand from Mumbai-based Cheminova India.
In 2011, it acquired Hyderabad-based firms Rohini Seeds as well as Rohini Bioseeds and Agritech.
