German chemical and biotech giant BASF plans to expand its agriculture unit in Asia and the global seed markets as it prepares for a stock market listing in about two years, Reuters reported a senior executive from the company as saying.
The company said its Agricultural Solutions unit should be ready for an initial public offering by 2027 that could involve it selling a minority stake in the business, the 9 May report said.
The unit comprises seeds, traits, seed treatment products, biological and chemical crop protection solutions, and digital farming products.
“We aim to further increase our share of revenue from seeds. We are at close to 22% and we want to move more towards 25%,” Livio Tedeschi, the division’s president, told Reuters.
As part of its plans, BASF was working on hybrid wheat – a product the industry had been investigating for years in a bid to boost wheat yields – and new soyabean variants resistant to pests such as soil roundworms, the report said.
Tedeschi said this was a high strategic priority and could be supported by collaboration deals and small acquisitions.
Asia was of an area of interest across products including crop chemicals and digital services, he added.
“When measured by market share, we are under-represented in Asia. We want to increase our market share,” he said.
In 2024, BASF’s agriculture business - among the four largest industry players alongside Syngenta, Bayer and Corteva - posted global sales of €9.8bn (US$11.1bn), with Asia accounting for 11.6% of the total, Reuters wrote.
Sales from North America, Europe and South America were 39.8%, 24.6% and 24% respectively.
In the week prior to the report, BASF said it was facing high levels of uncertainty from US tariffs and other countries’ reactions to them but reaffirmed its earnings guidance for lack of clearer economic indicators.
Tedeschi added that BASF’s decision to separate the agriculture unit from the rest of the business gave the unit more autonomy and would allow it to sustain research and development spending at 9%-10% of sales.
