With the acquisition, the company’s chain in Brazil will have about 60 stores
08/08/2022
Agtech giant Syngenta announced Friday the acquisition of the input retailer chain Agro Jangada, headquartered in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. With the acquisition, the seed and pesticide manufacturer controlled by Chinese capital will expand operations in regions it considers strategic to its business plan.
The company did not disclose the value of the deal. If antitrust regulator CADE approves the operation, Syngenta will take control of the six Agro Jangada distribution centers located in the municipalities of Itaporã, Dourados, Naviraí, Nova Andradina, Laguna Carapã, and Caarapó.
Syngenta’s network in Brazil — formed by Atua Agro (Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul) and Dipagro (Mato Grosso), the latter acquired last year — will have around 60 stores with Agro Jangada.
“We try to guarantee access [to the market] with some specific injections, as in this case, mainly in regions that are subject to a slightly faster transformation process, due to the arrival of new players,” Juan Pablo Llobet, head for Brazil and regional director for Latin America, told Valor. Agro Jangada was already a partner of the company.
The input sector, which is close to R$100 billion per year, according to consultants, is going through a strong consolidation. Investment funds and multinational input giants, such as Syngenta, are the main responsible for this movement.
“There are more or less 2,000 distributors in the country,” says André Savino, head of the company’s commercial platform. As part of its strategy, the company decided to establish regional anchors to ensure that its products and solutions, including financial ones, reach farmers, says the executive. The first step was to open its own stores, under the brand Atua Agro, in the South region.
The company has made acquisitions in places where it detected that organic growth would not be enough. In these cases, Syngenta keeps the brand and the essence of the acquired companies to take advantage of the relationship they already have with local producers. The company commercializes inputs and technological solutions both in its own network and through 200 other partners, such as resellers and cooperatives.
*By Érica Polo — São Paulo
Source: Valor International