Yara International Acquires Agronomic Technology Corp and Its Adapt-N Platform

Yara International has acquired Agronomic Technology Corp (ATC), which operates Adapt-N, as part of its strategy to invest in technology.

"ATC will help us implement our farmer-centric strategy and is an important building block in expanding our position in Digital Farming," said Terje Knutsen, Executive Vice President, Crop Nutrition, Yara, in a statement.

Yara is a global fertilizer company, based in Norway. Its largest product is nitrogen fertilizer, and the company sells other fertilizers, animal nutrition, and industrial chemical products.

Detailed monetary terms were not disclosed. Yara International senior vice president for digital farming Stefan Fürnsinn told AgFunderNews that the investment was “significant” but ”strategic.”

“It was not in the range of $1 billion to $550 million, but it was also not $1 million,” he said.

Adapt-N is nitrogen recommendation platform in the US. ATC also has N-Insight that aims to optimize fertilizer by field zones. These technology platforms combine scientific multi-variable modelling of crops, weather, and field data. Adapt-N is rooted in decades of research initiated by Cornell University, and its development involved dozens of partner organizations to verify its platform.

"We are impressed with the accuracy and quality of Adapt-N's recommendations compared to other products in the market, and are excited about the opportunities that arise from combining the highly complementary digital solutions of the two companies", said Fürnsinn in a statement.

Yara’s Digital Farming team serves customers across 160 countries. ATC has offices in New York and California’s Silicon Valley.

"Our team is excited about Yara's digital solutions and the company's genuine commitment to helping farmers improve their financial and environmental performance. Joining our advanced technology and data-driven capabilities with a leading crop nutrition company like Yara provides a tremendous opportunity to scale globally, innovate across a wider product portfolio and crop base, and maintain focus on the success and sustainability of all farmers and those who serve them," said Steve Sibulkin, CEO, ATC, in the news announcement of the merger.