Monsanto, a New York-listed crop seed company, has acquired Divergence, a US-based biotechnology company focused on parasites, for an undisclosed amount and after seven years of working together.
Divergence had raised about $20m from venture capital firms Cultivian Ventures (formerly known as Midpoint Food and Ag Fund) and Prolog Ventures, which has a focus on corporate venturing.
Ilya Nykin, founder of Prolog, which sold ZyStor late last year, said: "We were the first institutional investor in Divergence, and for several years the only one. This transaction will pay back something close to a third of that [first] fund’s total committed capital [of about $33m], so we are definitely pleased."
The company closed its series C round at $11.8m – more than double the amount it had previously raised – in February 2009 with MidPoint Food and Ag Fund as lead investor, as well as Prolog Ventures and certain partners of investment bank William Blair.
Robb Fraley, Monsanto’s chief technology officer, said: "Nematodes are one of the most challenging agricultural pests farmers face each year, and we’ve seen them become more pervasive.
"These pests cost farmers millions in damages annually to crops like corn, soy, cotton, and vegetables. Divergence has promising tools in its pipeline, including a nematicide which we believe could be used as a valuable seed treatment formulation to maximize the performance potential of the seeds and traits farmers plant."
Divergence and Monsanto started a collaboration in August 2004 to work on nematode-resistant soybeans. Four years later, in 2008, the companies made public their sequence of the soybean cyst nematode (pictured) genome, and extended their relationship.