Davis-founded Marrone Bio Innovations Inc.’s final price closed at a value of $207 million in its sale to Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp. of Rosario, Argentina.
Bioceres (Nasdaq: BIOX) announced the all-stock acquisition of Marrone (Nasdaq: MBII) in March, which at the time would have had a value of $236 million, but the final price was based on the closing share price of both companies on July 11.
"The completion of this transaction represents an important milestone in our journey, cementing our leadership in the development and commercialization of sustainable agricultural solutions," said Bioceres CEO Federico Trucco, in a news release. "MBI brings 15 years of experience in the development of biological solutions, and we are excited to add MBI´s unique product lineup and pipeline to Bioceres, a perfect fit to our own portfolio."
Bioceres also said it would continue to operate Marrone businesses and offer its products under the name ProFarm, which is an existing subsidiary of Bioceres.
Additionally, Bioceres said it will discontinue the corporate and business support functions that Marrone started this year in Raleigh, North Carolina.
In January, Marrone Bio said it would move its corporate headquarters to Raleigh to support its growth with international customers. At that time, the company said Davis would remain a hub for Marrone's research and development operations, and a number of support functions. Bioceres didn’t return an email seeking comment on the future of Davis operations. Marrone employs about 150 people, many of them research scientists in Davis.
Founded in Davis in 2006 by ag-tech entrepreneur Pam Marrone, the company was a pioneer in finding, developing, manufacturing and selling biologically-based products for agricultural pest management and plant health, as well as for controlling water-based pests. Marrone Bio went public in 2013.
Marrone Bio was the Sacramento area's sixth-largest locally based public company in 2020, with revenue of $38.4 million that year. It had revenue of $44.3 million in 2021.
Bioceres develops seeds and crop protection and crop nutrition technologies, which it distributes globally.
