A prairie company producing and selling forage, turf and grass seed for domestic and international markets is set to be a first foothold for a German seed company in North America.

DSV (Deutsche Saatveredelung) announced last week that it had reached an agreement in early April to buy all shares of Northstar Seed, based in Neepawa, Man. with an Alberta office in Okotoks.

Financial terms of the deal, which is expected to be completed “in the coming months”, were not disclosed.

DSV, based in Lippstadt, east of Dortmund, said in a statement on April 26 that it would be “able to enrich our portfolio with new genetics, including alfalfa, to serve our customers even better. in the whole world”.

DSV already co-owns with another German seed company, NPZ-Lembke, the Manitoba canola and pea seed breeding company DL Seeds.

“Through this acquisition, DSV will not only manage (its) own seed multiplication areas in Canada and North America, but will also gain access to the Canadian retail market as well as North and South American markets, significantly expanding its footprint in the Americas,” the company said.

Northstar founders Don Pollock and Rob Wolfe said in the same statement that under DSV ownership “we are confident we can expand our business around the world – a real win-win situation for both companies.”

Founded by alfalfa seed growers in 1982, privately owned Northstar today produces, sells and distributes seed for forage, turf, cover crops and native grasses grown in Canada, as well as leafcutter bees and equipment.

Northstar said it “continues to expand its business” selling to markets in North and South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand. He also participates in research and development programs internationally “to ensure that we remain at the forefront of plant breeding and genetics”.

DSV, meanwhile, bills itself as one of Germany’s leading plant breeding and seed companies, with gross revenues of more than €210 million (C$284 million) per year.

DSV, which produces seeds of grasses, maize, cereals, rapeseed and cover crops, has stakes in “well-known” companies in the seed industry in Germany and elsewhere, as well as its own subsidiaries in Denmark, UK, France, Netherlands, Poland, Argentina and Ukraine. —Glacier FarmMedia Network