Seeking to advance its presence in the citrus and subtropical categories, Sun World International LLC today announced the acquisition of Biogold Group. The South Africa-based company is a global fruit variety rights manager, trading as Citrogold in South Africa. 

Today, Biogold enjoys a global presence in South Africa, the U.S., Europe, and South America, with growers in the world’s major citrus-producing regions.

In addition to its mango breeding program, Biogold manages significant rights to mango varieties developed by third-party breeders. Together with the breeders they represent, Biogold has the world’s largest mango collection and one of the world’s largest collections of avocado varieties, the firm said in a release.

"Sun World is known for commercializing carefully, and being intentional when releasing our genetics, in service of maximizing benefits to our producer licensees,” said David Marguleas, CEO of Sun World. “Similarly, we make very few acquisitions and when we do, we do so with discipline. There couldn't be a stronger business case than this alliance. It’s a powerful accelerant for both companies and a pretty seamless integration for two already strong organizations and leadership teams.”

Biogold’s extensive citrus range is an exponential value-add to Sun World’s global leadership in table grapes and stone fruit, the company added. Like Sun World, Biogold also holds varietal management rights to a significant portfolio of not-yet-commercialized varieties, making "the growth runway for the combined company formidable and creating a parallel path with two revenue streams".

Biogold’s operations will continue to be run by Viresh Ramburan as Vice President, Global Licensing, Citrus and Subtropicals. There will be no staff reduction at Biogold because of the acquisition.

The company was founded in South Africa in the late 1990’s by a small group including Etienne Rabe, and was later joined by Abraham Van Rooyen and others. Biogold expanded its international operations in the 2000’s and was subsequently integrated into ANB Investments (Pty) Ltd., a leading South Africa-based enterprise with a diverse portfolio of agriculture holdings.

Key management of Biogold will be retained, Sun World assured, and Van Rooyen will remain a trusted advisor to the executive team.

Having grown up in the business on his family’s citrus farm, Van Rooyen is widely respected as a visionary leader, and as one of a handful of individuals who have most advanced the citrus sector in South Africa into the leading global player it is today.

“This acquisition instantly catapults our combined company onto a new growth path,” said Ramburan. “We’ve developed unique expertise in helping fruit breeders monetize their valuable genetic assets, effectively serving breeders across sectors which include government, academia and private entities. This acquisition creates a symbiotic relationship that will be highly scalable to the benefit of both parties and to our customers – both fruit breeders and growers.”

Beginning in 2019, Sun World specifically targeted citrus, mangoes and avocados, as priority genetics adjacencies and today’s announcement is the result of 5 years of discussion and discernment. These three priority crops have experienced explosive retail growth and are much in demand by consumers worldwide.

“Biogold is an invaluable supplier to Wonderful Citrus,” said Zak Laffite, President of Wonderful Citrus. “We have tremendous respect for the quality of their varietals, and know that with Sun World and Biogold under one roof, we will see tremendous benefits for the industry as a whole.”