Mitsui swoops on Irish crop protection company

A SUBSIDIARY of one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world has swooped on an Irish crop protection company as part of its expansion in horticulture and arable crop markets.

Mitsui & Co, part of the Mitsui Group, has agreed to acquire AgriGuard, based in Dublin, which manufactures and distributes off-patent agro-chemicals for crops such as cereals and oilseed rape, mainly in Britain and Ireland.

The global market for agrochemicals is estimated to be growing by 4 to 5% per year. Off-patent products now account for 75% of the total, because the cost of developing new agents has risen in recent years.