S&W Seed (SANW) and Trigall Genetics Enter Discussions to Combine Wheat Efforts in Australia – StreetInsider.com

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Trigall Genetics, the world leader in transgenic wheat, and S&W Seed Company (Nasdaq: SANW), a leading middle-market agricultural company, have entered preliminary, nonbinding discussions to potentially combine wheat operations through the creation of Trigall Australia, a wheat breeding company. The combination would harness S&W's Australian footprint and the capabilities of both Bioceres Crop Solutions (Nasdaq: BIOX) and Florimond Desprez, co-owners of Trigall Genetics.

Trigall Genetics is the world leader in transgenic wheat thanks to the development of its drought-tolerance HB4 EcoWheat technology and a leader in conventional wheat breeding in Argentina. Trigall Genetics aims to expand its activities into regions where farmers face climate change challenges and, more specifically, drought. With a harvest of more than 32 million tons of wheat, Australia is a priority development geography for Trigall Genetics, where the effects of climate change are ever more pressing.

S&W Seed Company currently conducts wheat breeding activities in Australia, counting wheat within its crop portfolio alongside sorghum, alfalfa, and various pasture crops. To ensure the most successful development of its wheat variety portfolio, S&W seeks to benefit from the expertise of an international wheat breeder such as Florimond Desprez. Florimond Desprez historically breeds wheat in Greater Europe, North Africa, and Latin America.

Trigall Australia activities would be based in New South Wales and would aim first at developing wheat varieties for all Australian regions and uses, all the while supporting Australian cereal farmers. Trigall Australia would be expected to be the favoured platform for Bioceres Crop Solutions and Florimond Desprez to develop their activities in Australia, be it crop productivity solutions or alternative breeding activities for crops such as barley, durum wheat, potato, or pulses. All Australian wheat breeding activities of S&W would be owned and operated by Trigall Australia.

Franois Desprez, president of Trigall Genetics and Florimond Desprez declares: "As a cereals and pulses breeder, we are very excited with this opportunity which could potentially allow us to step into a major wheat country in the world and reinforces the fruitful cooperation that exists between Bioceres Crop Solutions and Florimond Desprez since 2013."

Federico Trucco, vice-president of Trigall Genetics and CEO of Bioceres Crop Solutions comments: "This investment would be a very important step in our strategy to bring HB4 EcoWheat to farmers in every corner of the world. Australia is not only a leading participant of the global wheat value chain, but it is also a geography that is chronically affected by severe drought events, a condition we seek to mitigate with our drought tolerance technology. Partnering with S&W would allow us to make this opportunity a near-term reality."

Mark Wong, CEO of S&W Seed comments: "We believe this joint venture could significantly strengthen S&W's position in wheat, enabling us to benefit from the worldwide exposure the combined entity provides. Further, it would allow us to focus our efforts internally on our key centers of value. We look forward to further exploring the benefits this unique partnership would enable."

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S&W Seed (SANW) and Trigall Genetics Enter Discussions to Combine Wheat Efforts in Australia - StreetInsider.com