French co-op InVivo acquires 50% of Irish company Life Scientific
French co-op InVivo has acquired a 50% stake in Life Scientific, an Irish R&D company specialising in off-patent crop protection products.
InVivo is the largest agricultural co-op in France, and a leading agri sector player globally. Established in 1995, NovaUCD-based Life Scientific is to create 20 jobs over the next five year, primarily research roles.
Life Scientific chief executive, Nicola Mitchell, said: “This agreement will allow us to scale our proven business model, both in France and globally. It will strengthen our capacity to innovate on a global scale.”
The deal was signed at a St Patrick’s Day event in Paris attended by Jobs Minister Richard Bruton and Irish ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason.
InVivo, with revenues of $5.7bn (€5.375bn) and employing 8,800 people in 28 countries, is a union of 223 farming co-operatives and has a membership of 300,000 farmers. The remit of InVivo, the largest buyer of agrochemicals in Europe, is to work together with its member co-operatives to develop sustainable and profitable products enabling farmers to secure their production and revenue.
