Sale of NIAB’s Strawberry Breeding Programme to Bayer

DATE
September 2023

TRANSACTION TYPE

Strategic acquisition

VALUE
Not disclosed

SECTOR
Food & Beverage

Spayne Lindsay is delighted to announce that it has advised the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) on the sale of its Strawberry Breeding Programme to Bayer, a global leader in the life science fields of healthcare and nutrition.

NIAB’s Strawberry Breeding Programme, includes the strawberry varieties within Malling™ Fruits, and has been operating for more than 40 years from its roots at East Malling™ Research Station which is located in Kent, UK and which has long been associated with excellence in horticulture innovation.

The move will allow NIAB to concentrate on its soft fruit research, similar to its already established programmes in arable crops, as the organisation moves to prioritizing the provision of translational research to benefit growers, consumers and the environment. It will also open up new opportunities to work with leading soft fruit breeders and propagators across the industry, including Bayer.

This transaction adds to Spayne Lindsay’s extensive credentials advising corporate clients on complex cross-border sell-side transactions and builds on extensive experience in Agri and Fresh Produce, including the sale of Berry Gardens Limited, the sales, packaging and distribution entity of Berry Gardens Grower Cooperative to Driscoll’s, the global market leader of fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.