Koch acquires Mendel Plant Sciences

Koch has announced that it has acquired the biological research and development business of Mendel Biotechnology. The business will operate as Mendel Biological Solutions and will continue to be based in Hayward, California. The purchase was made by Koch Agronomic Services, a subsidiary of Koch Fertilizer, which is itself a subsidiary of Koch Ag & Energy Solutions; an indirect  wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Industries.

Mendel’s biological research and development team focuses on biological crop solutions which increase crop yield potential through the use of naturally derived products. The acquisition gives Koch a new biological platform for the agricultural industry. Koch has a number of

“As global population increases so does food demand, and growers are challenged to produce more crops to meet the need,” said Bill Boycott, KAS vice president of biologicals. “The Mendel team has expertise in understanding how plant processes, such as photosynthesis, stress tolerance and nutrient use efficiency, impact crop yields. By integrating Mendel’s research expertise with our commercialization capabilities, we will offer customers a new line of naturally derived products.”

Greg Ikonen, interim CEO of Mendel, added, “We are excited to join KAS and play a part in its vision to develop new biological products that will better serve customers’ changing needs.”

Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. Last year Mendel announced that they were engaging with the Kirchner Group to sell Mendel Plan Sciences division which has received over $100 million in R&D spending. The Kirchner Group is no stranger to agtech M&A, and has advised several M&A transactions including the acquisition of Agriquest by Bayer for $500 million in 2012.

The Kirchner M&A ‎team included Clete Walker as the lead M&A Advisor and Armand Lavoie, the head of our agriculture and food team, as the Industry Expert on the engagement.

“Kirchner was tenacious in tracking down potential acquirers and their industry experience and contacts were extremely helpful in completing this transaction.” stated Greg Ikonen, Interim CEO of Mendel.

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IMAGE: Larry W. Smith / Bloomberg