Vilmorin Clause et Cie - Introduction

Introduction

BP 1
Chappes
F-63720
France
Telephone: (+33) 4 73 63 41 95
Fax: (+33) 4 73 63 41 80
Web site: http://www.vilmorinclause.com

Public Company
Incorporated: 1998 as Vilmorin Clause & Cie.
Employees: 3,029
Sales: EUR 492.2 million ($594.7 million) (2004)
Stock Exchanges: Euronext Paris
Ticker Symbol: RIN
NAIC: 111421 Nursery and Tree Production; 424910 Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers

Vilmorin Clause & Cie is the world's leading supplier of seeds for the professional gardener and the consumer home garden markets. Based in France, and majority held by agro-industrial cooperative Groupe Limagrain, Vilmorin has developed a strong international presence built around a network of subsidiaries, including Ferry-Morse and Harris Moran in the United States; U.K. leader Suttons Seeds; Nickerson Zwaan in the Netherlands and Germany; a majority stake in Israel's Hazera Genetics, world leader in tomato seeds; Flora Frey and, since 2004, Sperling in Germany; Kyowa Seeds ni Japan, as well as Vilmorin, Oxadis and Clause Tézier in France. These companies oversee a stable of brands, including Vilmorin, Henderson Seeds, Clause, HM, Top Green, Kyowa, Flora-Frey, Suttons, Sperli, and Ferry-Morse. Over two-thirds of the group's sales come from outside of France. Of this amount, Europe, excluding France, represents 48 percent; the Americas add 30 percent; and the Asian Pacific region adds 10 percent. Vilmorin operates nearly 40 production site globally, supported by 46 research laboratories throughout its zones of operation. Eighty percent of the group's sales, which topped EUR 492 million, derives from the sale of seeds, including vegetable, flower, and lawn seeds for the consumer market and vegetable seeds for the professional market. The company also distributes related gardening items, as well as pet foods. Listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange, Vilmorin Clause & Cie has been part of Groupe Limagrain since 1975. That company also remains Vilmorin's majority shareholder, with more than 51 percent of its stock.