This partnership joins two leading platforms to accelerate soil and crop research and to enhance biological and other microorganism-based offerings to Alltech Crop Science customers throughout the world.
“We are excited to announce that Ideagro has joined the Alltech Crop Science global team, providing us with a partner who shares our vision and significantly scaling our research capabilities,” said Andy Thomas, CEO of Alltech Crop Science. “This is the strengthening of a longstanding partnership. We have worked closely with the Ideagro team since their founding 11 years ago.”
Ideagro is a leader in agri-food research and development with a team of more than 20 scientists. It is committed to improving the productivity and profitability of agricultural systems. Its expertise in developing beneficial organisms for soil aids the growth of crops, reduces the impact of chemical inputs, and helps plants to resist biotic and abiotic stress. Ideagro’s analytical capabilities, with special emphasis on in-vitro research, phytopathology, soil dynamics and microorganisms, further enable growers to identify microorganisms and quantify enzymatic activity in the soil.
“We are facing a great growth opportunity for Ideagro because we are going to have better means and more technological capacity to develop our research, which will now have a global projection,” said Pedro Palazón, CEO of Ideagro. “We will no longer only study the soils of the Iberian Peninsula, but we will work with soils from all over the world to achieve more sustainable and environmentally friendly agriculture.”
Ideagro has state-of-the-art laboratories and experimental research stations, and fields for carrying out trials in Spain. To date, the company has researched more than 90 different crops and performed more than 10,000 physicochemical and biological analyses.
“The combination of the Ideagro expertise with the reach and scale of Alltech will allow us to extend world-leading understanding of the interface between soil, crop, animal and human health to the global market,” said Andy Thomas, CEO of Alltech Crop Science. “The potential implications of these insights cannot be understated as we endeavour to improve the vitality of our global food system from the ground up.”
Hogan Lovells’ Corporate M&A team, led by partner José María Balañá and counsel Eduardo Pérez, in collaboration with the IPMT, Tax, Employment, and Regulatory teams, have advised Grupo Alltech, through its company Improcrop Limited, on the deal.
Alberto Bocchieri, from the Corporate team, also participated in the operation, along with Gonzalo Gállego and Inmaculada Lorenzo, who led IPMT’s advisory services; Javier Gazulla, from Tax advisory services; Jesús García, providing Labour advisory services, and Fernando Calancha, giving Regulatory advisory services.
Eversheds Sutherland Spain advised Pedro Palazón, sole shareholder of Ideagro, with a team formed by of counsel and Private Equity head Sixto de la Calle Peral, assisted by senior lawyer María Ramalle Quiñones, Litigation/Health/Life Sciences partner Marta González Díaz and Tax partner Antonio Cuéllar.
