Pictured (L-R): Nicola Mitchell, founder and CEO, Life Scientific; Richard Bruton TD, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation; Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, Ambassador of Ireland to France and Laurent Martel, Director of InVivo Agriculture Division and Chairman of Life Scientific

InVivo, the largest agricultural co-operative group in France is going to acquire a 50% stake in Life Scientific, an Irish R&D company which specialises in off-patent crop protection products.

The formal signing ceremony, coordinated by Enterprise Ireland, took place at an event organised by the Irish Embassy in Paris to mark St. Patrick’s Day, and was attended by Richard Bruton TD, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason.

As a result of this new partnership Life Scientific plans to create 20 new, predominantly research and development jobs, over the next 5-years, at its headquarters at NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs at University College Dublin (UCD).

Life Scientific, with an annual turnover of over €10 million, was established by Nicola Mitchell in 1995. The company, which has well established links with UCD and with Enterprise Ireland over many years, currently employs 20 people.

InVivo, with revenues of €5.7 billion and employing 8,800 people in 28 countries, is a union of 223 farming co-operatives and has combined membership of over 300,000 farmers. The remit of InVivo is to work together with its member co-operatives to develop sustainable and profitable solutions enabling farmers to secure their production and revenue.

Commenting on the agreement Nicola Mitchell, CEO of Life Scientific, said: “This agreement concluded with InVivo will allow Life Scientific to scale our proven business model, both in France and globally. It will strengthen our engagement with our customers, the InVivo cooperative members, and is a major endorsement of Life Scientific’s continued capacity to innovate on a global scale.”

Laurent Martel, Director of InVivo Agriculture Division and Chairman of Life Scientific, said, ”Partnering with Life Scientific is consistent with the ten-year strategic plan “2025 by InVivo”, which sees InVivo investing in the key platforms of R&D and marketing. The alliance with Life Scientific gives InVivo access to a unique capability in crop protection R&D, across a range of potential integrated pest management solutions.”