Hereford, Texas, USA
February 4, 2010

Advanta US Inc., a subsidiary of Advanta India, Ltd., announced today that it has acquired 100% of the assets and business of Crosbyton Seed Company (“CSC”).

Headquartered in Crosbyton, Texas, CSC is a leading breeder, producer and conditioner of hybrid sorghum planting seed products including grain sorghum, forage sorghum, millet and also sunflower. CSC President Nathan Boardman founded the company in 1972 and Executive Vice President and co-owner Donnie Swink joined the company in 1974. Together the two built CSC into one of the strongest and most respected sorghum seed businesses in North America.

Sorghum is the fifth most important cereal grain crop grown in the world behind corn, wheat, rice, and barley. Produced on approximately 100 million acres in 100 different countries around the world, various sorghum types are used for animal feed, food for human consumption, biofuels, and a number of minor uses including sorghum syrup, low-gluten-flour and more.

The CSC acquisition makes the second investment in US sorghum seed by Advanta following the 2008 acquisition of the business of Garrison & Townsend Seed Company (“GT”) of Hereford, Texas. This move further increases Advanta’s global sorghum business footprint, which also includes current operations in Australia, Argentina, India and Thailand.

Advanta CEO Ram Kaundinya said “We are extremely proud to welcome Nathan Boardman, Donnie Swink, and the employees of Crosbyton Seed to the Advanta family.
Crosbyton Seed Company has an exceptionally strong grain sorghum business and their customer relationships are first class. The new combination of Crosbyton, GT, our international sorghum seed businesses, and a number of important technology alliances creates a global platform that clearly establishes Advanta as a worldwide leader in the research, production and sales of sorghum.”

CSC President Nathan Boardman commented “The future of sorghum is bright. We are very proud of Crosbyton Seed Company’s contributions to the sorghum seed industry and appreciative of our many customers over these past 38 years. With new technologies on the horizon today and a need for increased investments in research & development, we are pleased that Advanta sees sorghum as an important priority crop and brings a commitment of investing in improved products for our customers.”

Details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Advanta is an India-based global seed business combining proprietary crop genetics and plant breeding capabilities with biotechnologies to produce high quality seed products and solutions for its customers around the world. Advanta is a member of the United Phosphorous group of companies.

Website: http://advantaseeds.com/

Published: February 4, 2010