KWS closes sale of North American Joint Venture AgReliant

Einbeck, 02.09.2025

KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA ("KWS") has closed the sale of its North American joint venture AgReliant Genetics in accordance with the agreement reached on June 27, 2025. The transaction has recently been approved by the relevant antitrust authorities. KWS ends all its direct operational business activities for corn in North America and will focus on the profitable corn business in the European market.

“The closing of the AgReliant transaction marks the final step of successful divestitures in the corn segment”, says Nicolás Wielandt, Executive Board Member responsible for the transaction. „It paves the way for further executing our strategy for profitable growth by strengthening leadership positions in field crops, building a strong footprint in the vegetable seed market and advancing seed innovations.”

As part of the transaction, KWS’ shares in AgReliant and rights to genetic material for corn were sold. The transaction volume for the sale of KWS shares is in the low three-digit million range (USD) and for the licensing agreements in the mid-double-digit million range (USD). The agreements provide for purchase price payments in several installments over five years, with a significant portion of the purchase price due immediately.

As expected, the sale of the KWS shares led to an impairment of the corresponding book value in the low double-digit million range (EUR) in the financial result of the KWS Group in the past 2024/2025 financial year (ending June 30, 2025). However, with the license agreements coming into effect, KWS expects a significant one-time gain in the above-mentioned range in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025/2026 (beginning July 1, 2025).

KWS will publish financial results for the 2024/2025 fiscal year and the annual report on September 25, 2025.

About KWS

KWS is one of the world’s leading plant breeding companies. Nearly 5,000 employees* in more than 70 countries generated net sales of around €1.68 billion in the fiscal year 2023/2024. A company with a tradition of family ownership, KWS has operated independently for almost 170 years. It focuses on plant breeding and the production and sale of seed for sugarbeet, corn, cereals, vegetables, oilseed rape and sunflower. KWS uses leading-edge plant breeding methods to continuously improve yield for farmers and plants’ resistance to diseases, pests and abiotic stress. To that end, the company invested more than €300 million last fiscal year in research and development.
*excl. seasonal workforce

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Peter Vogt
Peter Vogt
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