Vilmorin & Cie and KWS to sell North American Joint Venture AgReliant Genetics to GDM

Business Upturn

20 hours ago

Paris (France), June 27th, 2025
Vilmorin & Cie and KWS to sell North American
Joint Venture AgReliant Genetics to GDM
Vilmorin & Cie and KWS today announced that they have signed a binding agreement with GDM, a global leader in soybean, to both sell their entire respective 50% stake and exit the AgReliant Genetics ('AgReliant') joint venture.
Founded in 2000 as a joint venture between Vilmorin & Cie (Field Seeds Business – 'Limagrain Field Seeds') and KWS, AgReliant has grown to become a leading agricultural company in North America, focused on the research, production, and sale of seeds, primarily corn and soybean. At the time of its creation, the partners joined forces to strengthen their presence in North America.
Going forward, AgReliant will continue to pursue its mission of providing innovative seed products, benefiting from GDM's global reach and proven genetic expertise. GDM's cutting-edge assets and deep expertise will further strengthen AgReliant's corn and soy seeds offering for North American farmers.
This transaction marks an important milestone for Vilmorin & Cie, enabling to further focus on its strategic priorities and to reinforce its other territories as it continues advancing on its Ambition 2030 roadmap. Vilmorin & Cie through its Field Seeds business – Limagrain Field Seeds will retain the know-how, and all corn genetic materials co-developed with KWS over the last 25 years.
This transaction does not impact Vilmorin & Cie's other seeds activities in the U.S. and Canada.
In addition, Vilmorin & Cie remains committed to its global ambition, with corn as one of our core crops. Its development strategy will continue to rely on a strong global footprint, sustained investment across all innovative breeding tools and methods and robust research partnerships. Collectively, these will support the continuous improvement of field seeds varieties to better serve farmers worldwide.
The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close during the third quarter of 2025. The total transaction amount for the Vilmorin & Cie shares in AgReliant and related germplasm is in the low three-digit range, in millions of US dollars. Further details remain confidential. After the transaction is finalized, GDM will become the sole owner of AgReliant.
ABOUT VILMORIN & CIE
The 4 th largest seed company in the world, pure play in its sector, Vilmorin & Cie creates, produces and distributes seeds for vegetable and field seeds with high added value, contributing to meeting global food requirements in a context of accelerating climatic, environmental and demographic challenges.
Vilmorin & Cie is a historical expert in plant breeding, with around 6,000 varieties in its portfolio and several hundred new varieties marketed each year. It has become an international leader, offering all forms of agriculture, on all continents, the capacity to produce more and to produce better, while preserving the independence and freedom of choice of farmers and vegetable growers with regard to their other production factors.
Vilmorin & Cie relies on research & development for its ongoing growth, and on the controlled internationalization of its business activities, in order to durably strengthen its competitive positions in the long term on structurally buoyant world markets.
True to its long-term vision of development, Vilmorin & Cie's strategy and performance are based on respect for the values shared with its shareholder, the agricultural cooperative Limagrain: boldness, progress, perseverance and cooperation.
www.vilmorincie.com
PRESS CONTACTS
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