DuPont announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire San Francisco-based Granular, Inc., a leading provider of software and analytics tools that help farms improve efficiency, profitability and sustainability. Granular also operates AcreValue.com, the leading digital marketplace for farmland real estate. Sid Gorham, Granular’s co-founder and CEO, will continue to lead Granular and will lead Digital Agriculture for DuPont, which includes responsibility for Encirca® services, DuPont’s agronomic software business.
“This acquisition is an important component of our commitment to leading and shaping the agtech market,” said DuPont Executive Vice President James C. Collins, with responsibility for DuPont’s Agriculture segment. “We believe DuPont’s agronomy expertise, deep customer relationships and market reach will accelerate Granular’s business growth and help us deliver more value to growers around the world.”
With its focus on developing innovative solutions to help growers build strong, sustainable businesses, DuPont is creating a digital agriculture ecosystem to support information sharing, services and commerce. This acquisition will enable the business to connect growers, analytics and public and private data to advance our vision for a digitally connected, more sustainable agriculture industry.
“We started Granular to make a big impact on the business of farming,” said Gorham. “I am confident that as part of DuPont we will make a bigger impact even faster. DuPont shares our vision for using technology to help farms improve their dollar yield, not just their bushel yield. We are excited to pursue that vision together.”
Granular was founded in 2014 with the mission of helping farmers operate more efficient and profitable businesses. The company serves many of the farms in the industry across the United States, Canada and Australia. Granular’s leading position has enabled it to generate tremendous value for growers farming nearly 2 million acres of commodity and specialty crops.
“Granular’s products – both AcreValue and Farm Management Software – have become indispensable tools for me as the leader of a farm business,” said Trey Hill, CEO of Harborview Farms, Rock Hall, Maryland. “We also rely on Encirca® services to make critical agronomy decisions on the farm, so I am excited to see how this combination of leading products, teams and technologies will shape the future of digital agriculture.”
“We are excited to welcome the Granular team to DuPont and we look forward to working with them to bring a clear advantage to our grower customers,” Collins continued. “Granular is recognized as a clear market leader, as evidenced by its rapidly growing customer base and its existing partnerships with agriculture industry leaders, such as the recently announced integration of Granular into John Deere’s Operation Center. We look forward to building on this strong momentum.”
Closing of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected in the third quarter. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Following the close, Granular will continue to maintain its offices in San Francisco, California, and Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.
DuPont (NYSE: DD) has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials and services since 1802. The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs and thought leaders, we can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment. For additional information about DuPont and its commitment to inclusive innovation, please visit http://www.dupont.com.
Merger of Equals
On August 4, 2017, DuPont and The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) announced that all required regulatory approvals and clearances had been received in connection with the proposed merger of equals pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, as amended on March 31, 2017, (the “Merger Agreement”) under which the companies will combine in an all-stock merger (the “Merger Transaction.”) Dow and DuPont have agreed in writing that the closing conditions have been satisfied and that the Merger Transaction will close on August 31, 2017.
