Ferax Seeds joins Nickerson-Zwaan to create Nickerson-Zwaan South Africa

Johannesburg, Nov 1, 2006

We are pleased to announce that as of 30 October, 2006 Ferax Seeds (Pty) Ltd has been acquired by Nickerson-Zwaan B.V., of Made, Holland. Nickerson-Zwaan is an international company dedicated to the research, production, processing, marketing and sales of high quality vegetable seed varieties. It is part of the Limagrain Group, the largest European seeds company. Ferax Seeds was founded in 1996 as a Nickerson-Zwaan distribution company and became one of the leaders in this area in South Africa.

This initiative has been made possible by a very good relationship over the years. With a view to clear identification, Ferax will change its name to Nickerson-Zwaan SA (Pty) Ltd in the near future. The Ferax brand will continue to be used where appropriate, and the company as a whole will become the Nickerson-Zwaan platform for expansion into Africa.

In earlier years Ferax Seeds was mainly active in greenhouse and salad crops. In 1998, it began distributing a range of crops for another Limagrain company: Vilmorin of France (especially carrot). In July 2006 the entire range of Harris Moran (USA), also a Limagrain Group member, was added. Nowadays, the name Ferax is associated with cucumbers, carrots, peppers, tomato, cabbage, lettuce and a wide range of other crops including herbs. Other strong areas of interest are beans, squash, pumpkins and most recently onions. Good progress has been made in expanding sales in the vegetable seed market in recent years. This has culminated in talks with a view to a strategic investment by Limagrain / Nickerson-Zwaan.

As a distribution company, the focus at Nickerson-Zwaan SA is on quality of seeds and service, plus excellent technical support. The Head Office is situated near Lanseria, Gauteng and which co-ordinates sales countrywide. With the recent development of a new trial farm, we look forward to meeting the challenges of the future. Currently fifteen members of staff are employed in sales and operational duties, with permanent representation via our own staff and agents in the major production areas. All field staff have practical experience in vegetable growing, and it is our policy to only employ suitably qualified field personnel.

We are proud of the expertise built up over the past 10 years, and we will continue to concentrate on what we do best – promoting the interests of professional vegetable growers.

For further information please contact Mr. James Stephen, General Manager, Nickerson-Zwaan SA Tel. no. 011 659-4961/2, or you can visit the Nickerson-Zwaan website for more information.