Monsanto To Acquire Central American Seed Company

Posted by Matt Hopkins|24 June 2008

Monsanto Co. has entered an agreement to acquire Marmot S.A., which operates Semillas Cristiani Burkard (SCB), a leading Central American corn seed company, according to the PR Newswire.

Marmot, S.A. is a privately-held seed company headquartered in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

"With more than 40 years in the seed business, SCB is the leading provider of high-quality products to farmers in Central America," said Brett Begemann, Monsanto’s executive vice-president of Global Commercial.

"We are pleased to have entered into this agreement with Monsanto," said Antonio Juan Cristiani Burkard, SCB’s president, founder and CEO. "The agreement will allow both Monsanto and SCB to leverage their strong R&D capabilities, germplasm base, and breeding capabilities to bring new technology to farmers."

SCB focuses on hybrid corn seed production and is a leading provider of corn, sorghum, forage sorghum, soybeans, and pastures. The company operates in twelve countries throughout North, Central, and South America, as well as the Caribbean. SCB’s General Manager Antonio Cristiani Moscoso will continue to lead the SCB business and its 360 employees.