Devgen NV & Leads Agri Sign Agreement for Distribution of Devgen’s Hybrid Rice Seed Products in the Philippines

May 14, 2009 |

3 min read

ZWIJNAARDE, BELGIUM and MANILLA, PHILIPPINES--(Marketwire - May 13, 2009) -

Devgen (Euronext Brussels; DEVG) and Leads Agri today announced the signing of an agreement for the distribution by Leads Agri of Devgen’s hybrid rice products for the Philippine territory.

Both companies will combine their respective expertise. Leads Agri is a market leader in the distribution of high quality agrochemicals in the Philippines with country wide presence. Devgen is an important player in the field of hybrid rice seed breeding, production and marketing in India benefiting from a global technology platform. Devgen furthermore established a presence in the Philippines with breeding stations, working on a pipeline for tropical hybrid rice, and production of hybrid rice seed in Mindanao for the Philippine market.

Under this synergistic distribution collaboration, Devgen and Leads Agri will jointly promote Devgen’s hybrid rice product with Leads Agri’s chemical solutions to provide a complete solution for the Philippine rice farmers. The hybrid seeds will be sold under Devgen’s “Frontline” brand name.

“It is a pleasure to work with Leads Agri, one of the leading distributors in the Philippines for agrochemical products”, says Thierry Bogaert, CEO of Devgen, “Leads Agri shares our philosophy of building a strong relationship with the farmer.”

Fernando Malvedo, CEO of Leads Agri says: “We are deeply honored by the trust & confidence that Devgen, a global force in Hybrid seeds has given to Leads Agri. As the leading Filipino crop protection company , it is our earnest desire to continue serving the Filipino farmers not only with high quality crop protection products but also provide the latest in biotechnology i.e. hybrid rice which will help them achieve a high level of productivity that will result to their economic upliftment. With the hybrid seeds in its product portfolio, Leads Agri is now in a much better position to further strengthen its position as the 3rd largest crop protection company in the Philippines, only behind the two giant multinational companies.”

About Leads Agri

Leads Agri Products Corporation is engaged in importation and distribution of environmental science and crop protection products, such as but not limited to pesticides and foliar fertilizers, and agrochemical formulation plant management service contracts.

For more information please contact: Mariano T.Tabur, Technical Manager Tel: + 632-687-90-10 mttabur@leadsagri.com or visit: www.leadsagri.com

About Devgen

Devgen’s mission is to enable farmers to sustainably grow more food on less land, with less water, agrochemicals and labour.

Devgen uses advanced biotechnology and molecular breeding technology to make high yielding seeds and crop protection solutions with a superior environmental profile.

Devgen brings this technology to the market in the world’s major food and feed crops through two complementary strategies:

- Licensing Devgen technology for use in corn, cotton and soy and selected other crops in exchange for R&D funding, and milestone and royalty payments.

- Producing and selling its premium hybrid seeds in major field crops such as rice, sunflower, sorghum, and pearl millet, in the Indian subcontinent and S.E. Asia.

In its Crop Protection unit, Devgen develops a novel nematicide, an agro-chemical product that protects crops from damage by parasitic nematodes.

Incorporated in 1997, Devgen has offices in Ghent (Belgium), Singapore, Hyderabad (India) and Delaware (US) and employs more than 200 people.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements containing the words “anticipates”, “expects” , “intends”, “plans”, “estimates”, “may” and “continues” as well as similar expressions. Such forward looking statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which might cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Devgen to be materially different from any future results or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward looking statements speak only as of the date of publication of this document. Devgen disclaims any obligation to update such forward looking statements in this document to reflect any change in its expectations, conditions or circumstances on which such statement is based, unless required by law or regulation.

This announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

press release ENG: http://hugin.info/135721/R/1314715/305603.pdf