Brief: LV company in alfalfa seed deal

Single Sign-On: You can use Facebook account to log in to LasVegasSun.com. (We will use your first and last name from your profile.)
Trusted Commenting: Facebook connected users automatically become trusted commenters.

Thursday, Oct. 29, 1998 | 4:02 a.m.

Slater, Iowa-based Garst, which is part of the Advanta seed group -- a joint venture of London-based Zeneca Group Plc and Cosun of The Netherlands -- will acquire AgriPro's corn, soybean, wheat, cotton, sunflower and sorghum-seed business.

AgriBioTech will acquire AgriPro's alfalfa-seed business. Alfalfa accounts for about 25 percent of AgriPro's $60 million in sales, with corn and soybeans accounting for most of the rest. The companies did not say how much they are paying for AgriPro, which is owned by privately held Helena Chemical Co. of Memphis.

AgriBioTech is trying to consolidate the grass seed industry but has placed itself for sale because of unfavorable stock market conditions.