Biobest Group NV of Belgium, IVOG Gmbh of Germany, BKS A.S. and Antilsan A.S. of Turkey, jointly announced a transaction, which further strengthens the position of Biobest Group with regard to sticky traps, sticky rolls and pheromones. BKS A.S., based in Antalya, manufactures sticky traps and rolls and distributes pheromones both in Turkey and in the global market. The majority stake in the company held by Antilsan A.S. was acquired by IVOG Gmbh, an affiliate of Biobest Group based in Germany involved in manufacturing of sticky traps and rolls.
Jean-Marc Vandoorne, CEO of Biobest Group says: ”Sticky traps and rolls are important tools in Integrated Pest Management, offering growers solutions to monitor pests and to actively reduce pest pressure. With this transaction, our group strengthens its position as a leading manufacturer of these products, allowing us to serve the needs of growers operating in different crops and different countries. There is strong complementarity between the capabilities of IVOG and the capabilities of BKS. The synergy between both companies will help us build global leadership in this important product segment. Antilsan has been our partner in the Turkish market since 1998, this acquisition from Antilsan shows our mutual commitment to a successful, long term collaboration.”
Joachim Schneider, General Manager of IVOG: ”I am excited about IVOG’s investment in BKS. The global market for our products is growing rapidly. With our combined capabilities, we are ideally positioned to supply competitive high-quality products that suit every growers needs. I look forward to a close collaboration with Şahin Biçen, founder and General Manager of BKS. The synergies between our two operations not only relate to manufacturing capabilities and logistic advantages of each location, I expect a lot also from synergies between our innovation programs.”
Şahin Biçen, General Manager of BKS: ”BKS is a young company that has experienced extremely fast growth. Working together with IVOG and as part of the Biobest Group, we now gain access to a very strong global distribution network that will complement our direct sales efforts. This will help us stay on a steep growth curve. I am grateful to Antilsan for their support in building this company. I will now work together as a partner with IVOG and Biobest. I am confident that BKS will flourish because of our enhanced capacity to deliver value to growers worldwide.”
Mehmet Ali Yildirim, General Manager of Antilsan commented: ”We have been excited to be part of the development of BKS over the last few years. With Biobest taking over as a partner in BKS, we know the company will have a strong future. BKS has a very competitive product range. We will continue to distribute these products in the Turkish market as before. The long-standing collaboration with Biobest as partners in Biobest Antalya has allowed us to jointly achieve the number one position in the Turkish market for bumblebees and IPM solutions. Today’s agreement again demonstrates the strength and dynamism of our partnership.”