In early August Marrone Bio Innovations announced it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Pro Farm Technologies, based in Finland, for $31.8 million.
The acquisition will add proprietary nutrient and biostimulant technology and products to the Marrone portfolio. These products are for both seed and foliar treatment.
“This acquisition is an example of the kind of transformative investments that we seek to grow Marrone Bio from a product, crop and geographic perspective, and to do so in a way that can immediately accelerate our revenue growth and margin expansion,” Marrone Bio Chairman of the Board Bob Woods said in a news release. “We believe acquisitions like Pro Farm will allow us to cost-effectively expand our global scale, and significantly escalate our growth trajectory.”
Pro Farm focuses on using extracted lignin from the pulp and paper industry, and the company’s process converts that into a purified derivative called lignosulfonate. The lignosulfonate is then combined with Pro Farm formulations, and the resulting products aim to be highly concentrated and available for the plant’s use.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2019, subject to satisfaction of customary conditions. The terms include Pro Farm is acquired for an agreed enterprise value of $31.8 million, including a combination of $6.2 million cash and 12.7 million shares of Marrone Bio stock, as well as the opportunity for potential payment of a total of up to $7.5 million of additional shares of stock deliverable from 2021 through 2024 based on satisfying agreed upon commercial milestones.
