On October 29, 2020, Farmer’s Business Network, Inc. (“FBN Canada”), completed its acquisition of the Canadian canola breeding program and pipeline of Cibus, a San Diego-based AgTech company that uses precision gene editing technologies to improve farming practice by bringing biological innovation to the seed. As part of the agreement, Cibus has also provided FBN Canada with a license to sell its canola Pod Shatter Reduction trait upon commercialization.
This marks FBN’s second acquisition within the same week, a transaction which involved the acquisition of Haplotech Inc., a Winnipeg-based market leading provider of research, technical and consulting services in seed breeding. Combined, these acquisitions will help bring increased competition to the seed industry and positions FBN Canada to become a significant participant in the canola seed sale market. Canola is the second biggest crop in Canada.
Farmer’s Business Network, Inc. is an independent ag tech platform and farmer-to-farmer network, and has grown to cover more than 49 million acres of member farms in the U.S., Canada and Australia.
Miller Thomson advised FBN Canada on the transactions with a team led by David Gerecke (Corporate/M&A) and comprised of Jordyn Allan (Corporate/M&A), Colleen Ma (Corporate Tax and Sales, Commodity and Indirect Tax), Lesley Kim (Corporate Tax), and Sandra Gogal (Regulatory).
