KWS Saat
KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA (ISIN: DE0007074007) is a European independent and family-owned company based in Germany that focuses on plant breeding, with activities in about 70 countries. KWS is the fourth largest seed producer worldwide based on sales in agricultural crops. The product range includes seed varieties for sugar beet, corn, cereals, oil and protein plants, sorghum, catch crops ans vegetables. The capital letters "K," "W" and "S" in the name KWS stand for Klein Wanzlebener Saatzucht, which means seed breeding from Klein Wanzleben. The company's original headquarters were in Klein Wanzleben, an East German town located near the city of Magdeburg. Its main markets are in Europe, North and South America as well as Asia. KWS has breeding and distribution activities in more than 70 countries. In 1954, the company went public on the Hamburg-Hannover Stock Exchange and has been on the SDAX list of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since June 2006. In addition, the shares are listed in the Nisax20 index of shares in Lower Saxony.
| Company type | Public (Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien with a Societas Europaea as general partner) |
|---|---|
Traded as | FWB: KWS |
| Industry | Agriculture, Biotechnology |
| Predecessor | (1856) Rabbethge, Giesecke & Reinecke OHG (offene Handelsgesellschaft) (1864) Rabbethge & Giesecke OHG (1885) Conversion of the OHG into Zuckerfabrik (sugar refinery) Klein Wanzleben formerly Rabbethge & Giesecke AG (1937) Rabbethge & Giesecke AG (1946) Rescue company Rabbethge & Giesecke Saatzucht GmbH (1951) Kleinwanzlebener Saatzucht formerly Rabbethge & Giesecke AG (1975) KWS Kleinwanzlebener Saatzucht AG formerly Rabbethge & Giesecke (1999) KWS SAAT AG (2015) KWS SAAT SE (2019) KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA |
| Founded | Klein Wanzleben, Germany (1856) |
| Founder | Matthias Christian Rabbethge |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Europe, North America, South America, Asia, the Middle East, North Africa |
Key people | Hagen Duenbostel (CEO), Andreas J. Büchting (Chairman of the supervisory board) |
| Products | seeds varieties for : sugar beet, corn, cereals, oil and pritein plants, sorghum, catch crops, vegetables |
| Revenue | €1,539.5 million (2021/22) |
| €155.1 million (2021/22) | |
Net income | €107.8 million (2021/22) |
| Total assets | € 2,651.8 million (2021/22) |
| Owner | As of 30 June 2019: Families Büchting/Arend Oetker (54.4%) Tessner Beteiligungs GmbH (15.4%) free float (30.2%) |
Number of employees | 5,000 (2021/2022) |
| Subsidiaries | the largest subsidiaries are: AgReliant Genetics LLC., (50%)- (USA) cereals: KWS LOCHOW GMBH (100%)- (Germany) |
| Website | http://www.kws.com |