AgrEvo is now Aventis CropScience

Our Corporate Bureau
10 March 2000

AgrEvo India Ltd., the 50.1 per cent subsidiary of Aventis CropScience Holding SA, has been renamed Aventis CropScience India Ltd.

Similarly, Rhone-Poulenc Agrochemicals, the 100 per cent subsidiary of Aventis CropScience Holding SA, will also be registered as Aventis CropScience, but with a different extension. That is, it could be renamed as Aventis CropScience India Pvt Ltd.

Aventis CropScience SA was formed after the merger of the agrochemical businesses of Hoechst AG and Rhone-Poulenc SA. The worldwide merger was completed on 16 December 1999. See

Aventis CropScience SA currently controls four entities in India through Aventis CropScience Holding SA. These include AgrEvo India (50.1 per cent), Rhone-Poulenc Agrochemicals (India) Ltd. (100 per cent), Bilag India Ltd. (51 per cent), and ProAgro Seeds (98 per cent).

Before the worldwide merger, AgrEvo GmbH, the agrochemical subsidiary of Hoechst AG, in 1999, acquired 51 per cent stake in Bilag India and 98 per cent stake in ProAgro Seeds. Bilag India specialises in synthetic pyrethroids, a group of insecticides used in cotton, vegetables and fruits, while ProAgro Seeds excels in seed breeding, seed production and distribution.

Though there is no decision yet to merge AgrEvo and Rhone-Poulenc Agro (at least not before the third quarter of 2000), the two companies have formed an alliance under the Aventis CropScience banner, resulting in cost and growth synergies, combined distribution strength and a greater market penetration for their key brands.