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Successful purchase of trait platform with extensive product pipeline:
Purchase price of USD 365 million plus milestones
Monheim, November 2, 2009 - Bayer CropScience announced today the completion of
its purchase of Athenix Corp., a privately-held independent biotechnology
company headquartered in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA. The
company was purchased for USD 365 Million (about EUR 250 million). Further cash
payments based upon the achievement of certain development milestones may
amount up to USD 35 million (about EUR 24 million).
The acquisition of Athenix and its innovative technology platform significantly
boosts Bayer CropScience´s ability to make available to growers worldwide novel
technology and complete agricultural solutions. Athenix has an extensive
herbicide tolerance and insect control trait development platform. The company
has the largest collection of Bt genes in the industry - genes that are crucial
for insect resistance of plants. Athenix is working on nematode resistance as
well, a field where current chemical options are limited. Additionally, the
company has a valuable collection of proprietary microbes that will provide a
long-term source of novel and commercially important genes for future trait
development.
Bayer CropScience is currently already pursuing a total of 56 BioScience
research projects involving six crops. The acquisition bolsters this research
and development (R&D)-pipeline and the trait platform of Bayer CropScience.
Athenix complements the fast growing BioScience business of Bayer CropScience
by significantly extending its R&D-presence in North America. Athenix employs
some of the world's leading researchers in the agricultural biotech industry
and has a workforce of about 65 employees who have extensive expertise in
commercial gene discovery, commercial trait generation, and product
development.
The acquisition will allow Bayer CropScience to strengthen its attractiveness
as a partner to other stakeholders in the seed business worldwide. It will
generate additional trait fee income beyond the income streams from Bayer
CropScience`s current trait technology due to license agreements with major
agricultural companies. Bayer CropScience already expects the combined sales
potential of its four most important licensing agreements, which will bear
fruit in the coming years, to exceed EUR 500 million - and Athenix will add
further to this revenue stream from the middle of next decade.
"We are investing heavily in our BioScience business to strengthen our position
in the global seeds and traits market", said Professor Friedrich Berschauer,
Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer CropScience. "Within the last
year, we have announced business expansions involving three new
state-of-the-art research and development facilities in the United States and
Canada. Athenix is a leading independent plant biotechnology company. The
acquisition of Athenix therefore underpins this expansion, and allows Bayer
CropScience to further expand its strong research and development capacity in
North America, the most important seed technology market of the world."
"We are pleased to become part of Bayer CropScience, a global agribusiness
leader that is fundamentally driven by the spirit and practice of innovation.
The combined talents and capabilities of Bayer CropScience and Athenix will
serve to accelerate the market introduction of highly innovative new products
for farmers worldwide that will directly address the global demand for superior
agricultural productivity," said Mike Koziel, Chief Executive Officer for
Athenix.
About Bayer CropScience
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health
care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience AG, a subsidiary of
Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 6.4 billion (2008), is one of the world'
s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection,
non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. The company
offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup for
modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer
CropScience has a global workforce of more than 18,000 and is represented in
more than 120 countries. This and further news is available at:
www.press.bayercropscience.com.
About Athenix Corp.
Athenix, founded in 2001, is a leading biotechnology company that develops
novel products and technologies for agricultural and industrial applications.
Athenix has established an outstanding intellectual property portfolio and
market access ability around enhanced plants, microbes, genes, enzymes, and
processes with emphasis on two major markets: 1) novel agricultural traits for
growers such as insect resistance, nematode resistance, herbicide tolerance,
and their use for the crop production industry; and 2) the discovery of genes
and proteins for use in the sustainable chemical industry. For more information
visit www.athenixcorp.com.
Find more information at www.bayercropscience.com.
