R-P Agro buys S Korean agrochem co Chunjin

20 July 1998 13:07  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (CNI)--France's Rhone-Poulenc Agro said Monday it has agreed to buy the South Korean agrochemical company Chunjin.

It has signed an agreement to acquire 86% of Chunjin which manufactures and markets an extensive range of speciality market gardening and arboriculture products for the Korean market. R-P Agro said Chunjin has also gained a significant share of the local rice herbicides market over recent years.

Chunjin, which employs 162 people, has a formulation plant and an R&D centre as well as a product portfolio and distribution network. Its sales last year totalled $53m. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The deal will allow R-P Agro to formulate its active ingredients directly in Korea and market its own products through the new distribution network.

Michel Maupu, R-P Agro's president and chief executive officer, said the Chungjin deal marked a major milestone in the company's strategy to expand in Asia. "It was vital for us to gain a strong distribution foothold in the Korean market," he said. "Over the next three years, Rhone-Poulenc Agro hopes to become one of the leading players on the Korean agrochemicals market."

R-P Agro said the Korean agrochemicals market was worth around $800m last year. It said it ranked seventh in the world and third largest in Asia.

By: Neil Sinclair
+44 20 8652 3214

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