CROP PROTECTION Makhteshim Agan to buy Albaugh in $1.3 billion deal

Abstract

Leading off-patent crop protection chemical specialist Makhteshim Agan Industries has agreed to buy Iowa-based Albaugh in a deal valued at $1.3 billion. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year pending government approvals. It will boost the reach of MAI, based in Israel, in the Americas and augment its manufacturing capabilities. Albaugh, the largest generic crop protection chemical firm in North America, will swell the Israeli firm’s annual sales by about $1.0 billion to about $3.1 billion, on the basis of 2009 results. It brings manufacturing sites in the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina, as well as a joint venture in China that produces N -(phosphonomethyl) iminodiacetic acid, a raw material for the weed killer glyphosate. Albaugh, which has about 3,000 employees, is a significant manufacturer of glyphosate, as well as the herbicides 2,4-D and dicamba, various insecticides, fungicides, and plant-growth regulators. According to MAI, the acquisition will put it significantly ...