Monsanto agrees to buy Guatemala seed company

Concentrated Tea Monsanto Co. said Thursday it has agreed to acquire Marmot SA, which operates Guatemala-based seed company Semillas Cristiani Burkard, to expand its hybrid corn portfolio in Central America. Financial terms were not disclosed. Monsanto said the deal will be completed as soon as practical. "This acquisition, which solidifies Monsanto's position as the leading corn seed provider in the Latin and Central American regions, will enable our companies to provide new and innovative higher-yielding corn seed offerings to farmers," said Brett Begemann, Monsanto's executive vice president of global commercial. SCB, which is based in Guatemala City, operates in 12 countries throughout the Americas and the Caribbean. The company focuses on hybrid corn seed production, particularly corn, sorghum, forage sorghum, soybeans, and pastures or grass-type seeds. SCB is also a distributor of Seminis vegetable seeds, a product of Monsanto's vegetable seed division. SCB General Manager Antonio Cristiani Moscoso will continue to lead the SCB business and its 360 employees.