France: Florimond Desprez becomes the majority shareholder of Danespo
The Florimond Desprez group has bought back its 49% stake in Danespo from its Danish partner DLF and has become the majority shareholder with a 99% stake.
Since 1996, the Florimond Desprez Group and the Danish DLF, two seed companies, have owned Danespo, a Danish plant breeder, in equal shares. On June 30, the Florimond Desprez Group announced that it had become the majority shareholder of Danespo with a 99% stake , following the acquisition of DLF’s 49% stake. The remaining shares are shared between employees and producers.
The Danespo and Germicopa entities will continue to be managed independently with their own brands, varietal portfolios, and local teams. However, they are grouped together under the group’s "Potato Business Unit," led by Baptiste Brunello, who becomes its Managing Director. The goal is to strengthen their collaborations to find synergies in varietal selection, production, and marketing.
With its partner DLF, the Florimond Desprez group invested in 2018 in the construction of a new headquarters and breeding facilities for Danespo in Give (Denmark). It now plans to build a new plant sorting and storage facility in Denmark and establish a new research station for Germicopa in France.
The Florimond Desprez group, which acquired Germicopa in 2014, remains a family business. It employs 1,200 people worldwide and generates 80% of its revenue outside France.
He remains a partner of DLF with whom, since September 2024, he has shared a joint venture in the company United Beets Seeds, which sells beet seeds.
Fuente: terre-net.fr
