Nirit Seeds and TomaTech specialize in breeding vegetable seeds, primarily tomatoes. AP Partners Fund, a leading Israeli private equity fund, and Discount Capital (an investment house) acquired the two companies at a value of over $60 million with the aim of merging them and creating the largest Israeli vegetable breeding seeds company. The new company will benefit from significant synergies and unique R&D capabilities that will drive accelerated growth in the global vegetables markets.
Following the merger, the workforce will reach to above 80 employees globally, and will include molecular biologists, breeders, agronomists, sales experts and others. The new company will continue its comprehensive breeding operations in Israel, Spain, Mexico and Italy, and will significantly expand into the Netherlands and North America, targeting high-tech greenhouses, while strengthening its marketing channels in those regions, and establishing new channels in other geographies.
Ofer Ben Zvi will serve as CEO of the merged company, and Hagai Stadler, managing partner at AP Partners, will chair the board. The high-profile management team will also include Dr. Shay Leviatov (VP R&D), Yoram Pachiuk (VP Sales and Business Development), Paul Van Dijk (VP Sales North EU and NAFTA) and Dr. Boaz Kaplan (Chief Scientist).
Ofer Ben Zvi, CEO, said: “The integration of our excellent and experienced teams along with our advanced breeding and genetic capabilities and worldwide marketing channels will enable us to position the merged company at the forefront of the seeds industry. We plan to leverage the companies’ advanced genetic technologies and synergies to accelerate growth. We strongly believe the merged company will provide better products, with the highest standard of service, and uncompromising quality, positioning it at the forefront of the seeds industry. We are grateful to the customers and suppliers of both companies for their trust and long-term support, which we highly cherish”.
Hagai Stadler, managing partner at AP Partners and chairman of the Board, added: “The fresh food industry will face significant changes in upcoming years. New cultivation technologies, robotics and automation, global climate changes, and the quest for unique flavors, shapes and color profiles create distinctive opportunities for an innovative, agile, and ambitious breeding house. We are confident the through organic growth and additional mergers and acquisitions, the new company will become a distinctive and dominant player in this market, and one of the most innovative and interesting vegetable seed house worldwide”.
Vice president of R&D Shai Leviatov stated: “Our goal is to establish a top-notch center of innovation, knowledge, and cutting-edge breeding technologies. Backed by an expert team of professionals, we plan to speed up the breeding process utilizing the great potential of the diverse germplasm of the two companies, and their unique molecular-biology capabilities, to take penetrate new segments and to better serve future customer needs.”
