Paris (France), June 25, 2025,
Vilmorin & Cie has entered into exclusive discussions
to build a strategic and financial partnership
with ADQ on Vegetable Seeds
- This partnership project would enable to further accelerate Vilmorin & Cie’s Vegetable Seeds business growth
- As part of the contemplated transaction, Limagrain Vegetable Seeds (“LVS”) and Silal – an ADQ portfolio company - would launch joint R&D partnership in UAE focused on the development of desert-adapted seeds
Vilmorin & Cie today announced having entered into exclusive discussions with Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ), an active sovereign investor focused on critical infrastructure and global supply chains. Under the terms of the contemplated transaction, ADQ would acquire a 35% minority stake in Vilmorin & Cie’s Vegetable Seeds business.
As part of this contemplated transaction, a dedicated legal entity – Limagrain Vegetable Seeds (“LVS”) – would be established to consolidate all activities within the Vegetable Seeds business, including its three Business Units: Hazera, HM.CLAUSE and Vilmorin-Mikado.
This strategic and financial partnership project would mark a key milestone in the ambition of Vilmorin & Cie and its shareholder, Limagrain, to accelerate growth and, more specifically, to strengthen their leadership within the global vegetable seed market.
ADQ is a long-term investor with a proven track record in the agricultural and food sectors. In addition, The UAE maintains strong bilateral relations with the French economy1.
This partnership project is fully in line with Vilmorin & Cie and its shareholder Limagrain's strategic roadmap, “Ambition 2030”. It would further accelerate Vilmorin & Cie’s growth – particularly in its Vegetable Seeds business line – and support the Group in achieving its 2030 strategic objectives. Concretely, ADQ’s entry into the business would provide decisive strategic support to further strengthen Limagrain Vegetable Seeds’ position as a global leader in the vegetable seed market.
As part of the proposed collaboration, LVS and Silal — an ADQ portfolio company specializing in agri-food technology — plan to establish a Research and Development partnership, leading to the creation of a joint venture focused on desert-adapted vegetable genetics. The collaboration aims to develop innovative genetic solutions that enhance the resilience of vegetable crops to extreme environmental conditions such as extreme heat, drought and salinity. Together, the partners are committed to advancing solutions for sustainability and food security in arid and semi-arid regions, particularly across the Gulf.
Vilmorin & Cie, the global leader in vegetable seeds
All of Vilmorin & Cie’s Vegetable Seeds activities – positioned as the global market leader – would be consolidated under the entity Limagrain Vegetable Seeds, intended to be held at 65% by Vilmorin & Cie. This LVS entity would bring together the Business Units Hazera, HM.CLAUSE and Vilmorin-Mikado, comprising over 4,000 employees across 35 countries and generating €796 million in revenue*.
Through this contemplated transaction, ADQ would become a minority shareholder in Limagrain Vegetable Seeds and would have a presence on the entity’s Board of Directors, proportional to its stake, contributing to strategic decisions. This partnership project will not result in any changes to the governance at the level of Limagrain Group, the Cooperative and Vilmorin & Cie.
This transaction will need to undergo the consultation process of the employees' representative bodies, and its closing will be subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals.
For more details about the partnership project announcement, please read the press release issued by Limagrain, the majority shareholder of Vilmorin & Cie.
To further discuss this partnership and its implications for Vilmorin & Cie, Vilmorin & Cie’s management team will be hosting a webcast in French on Thursday, June 26, 2025, at 4:00 pm (CET).
The webcast will be available live and on replay:
- To join the webcast: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/g89sk9tw
- To join the audio conference: https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BI257cdde89c5a47c08e26f284c2e9f252
* Data for 2023-2024.
ABOUT VILMORIN & CIE
The 4th largest seed company in the world, pure play in its sector, Vilmorin & Cie creates, produces and distributes seeds for vegetable and field seeds with high added value, contributing to meeting global food requirements in a context of accelerating climatic, environmental and demographic challenges.
Vilmorin & Cie is a historical expert in plant breeding, with around 6,000 varieties in its portfolio and several hundred new varieties marketed each year. It has become an international leader, offering all forms of agriculture, on all continents, the capacity to produce more and to produce better, while preserving the independence and freedom of choice of farmers and vegetable growers with regard to their other production factors.
Vilmorin & Cie relies on research & development for its ongoing growth, and on the controlled internationalization of its business activities, in order to durably strengthen its competitive positions in the long term on structurally buoyant world markets.
True to its long-term vision of development, Vilmorin & Cie’s strategy and performance are based on respect for the values shared with its parent company, the agricultural cooperative Limagrain: boldness, progress, perseverance and cooperation.
ABOUT ADQ
Established in 2018, ADQ is an active sovereign investor with a focus on critical infrastructure and global supply chains. As a strategic partner to the Government of Abu Dhabi, ADQ invests in the growth of business platforms anchored in the Emirate that deliver value to local communities and long-term financial returns to its shareholder. ADQ’s total assets amounted to USD 251 billion as of 31 December 2024. Its rapidly expanding portfolio encompasses companies across numerous core sectors of the economy, including energy and utilities, transport and logistics, food and agriculture, healthcare and life sciences, financial services, infrastructure and critical minerals, real estate investments, and sustainable manufacturing.
ADQ’s Food & Agriculture portfolio includes investments in Louis Dreyfus Company, a leading merchant and processor of agricultural goods; Unifrutti, a global champion in the production, trade and distribution of more than 100 varieties of fresh produce; Agthia Group, one of the region’s leading food and beverage groups; Al Dahra Holding, an Abu Dhabi-based global leader in forage and other agribusiness sectors; Lulu, the leading hypermarket and supermarket chain in the Middle East; and Silal, Abu Dhabi’s leading food and agriculture technology company.
For more information, visit adq.ae or write to media@adq.ae.
You can also follow ADQ on Instagram, LinkedIn and X.
PRESS CONTACTS
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Anne-France Malrieu - +33 (0)6 89 87 61 18
Sergio de la Calle - +33 (0)6 69 58 42 34
1 https://www.mofa.gov.ae/en/MediaHub/News/2025/4/24/24-4-2025-UAE-France
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