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 founded klein wanzleben germany 1856 1856 founder matthias christian rabbethge headquarters einbeck germany area served europe north america south america asia the middle east north africa key people hagen duenbostel 1 ceo andreas j. b chting chairman of the supervisory board products seeds varieties for sugar beet corn rapeseed cereals potatoes energy crop revenue 986 million 2014 2015 operating income 113.4 million 2014 2015 net income 84.0 million 2014 2015 total assets 424.5 million 2013 2014 total equity 738.7 million 2014 2015 owner as of january 2016 families b chting arend oetker giesecke 56.0 % tessner beteiligungs gmbh 15.1 % free float 28.9 % number of employees 4 691 2014 2015 2 subsidiaries the largest subsidiaries are agreliant genetics llc . 50 % usa cereals kws lochow gmbh 100 % germany website http www.kws.com kws saat se isin de0007074007 is an independent family owned german company that focuses on plant breeding with activities in about 70 countries . kws is the fifth largest seed producer worldwide based on sales . 3 the product range includes seed varieties for sugar beet corn cereals rapeseed and potatoes . 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 the temperate climate zones of europe north and south america as well as north africa and asia . kws has a network of more than 30 breeding stations 130 testing stations and around 60 subsidiaries . 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 . contents 1 history 2 expansion and acquisitions 3 research and collaboration 4 references 5 bibliography 6 external links history edit in 1838 the kleinwanzleben zuckerfabrik kleinwanzleben sugar refinery was founded as a stock company . 4 in 1856 the majority of its shares were acquired by the sugar beet grower and farmer matthias christian rabbethge one of the pioneers of the german sugar industry . in the same year he and his then future son in law julius giesecke founded a general commercial partnership ohg . in 1885 the rabbethge & giesecke ohg became a joint stock company aktiengesellschaft under the name zuckerfabrik klein wanzleben formerly rabbethge & giesecke aktiengesellschaft ag . in 1937 it was changed into rabbethge & giesecke ag because the reichsn hrstand did not want any anonymous investors in the agriculture and forestry sector . after the second world war the company was relocated to the lower saxonian city of einbeck which has been its headquarters since then . in 1946 a rescue company was established under the name rabbethge & giesecke saatzucht gmbh . the foundation of this rescue company was necessary in order to continue the western activities of the original joint stock company which was still based in klein wanzleben . 5 in 1951 the two companies were merged and took the title kleinwanzlebener saatzucht formerly rabbethge & giesecke ag . in 1975 it was changed into kws kleinwanzlebener saatzucht formerly rabbethge & giesecke and then finally reduced to kws saat ag in 1999 . the first international branch of kws was established in 1900 in the ukrainian town vinnytsia to meet the demand of sugar beet farmers in russia . in 1920 the company began to expand its business into corn fodder beet and potato breeding . following the relocation to einbeck kws focused on the breeding of sugar beet corn rapeseed sunflower cereals and potatoes . in the years directly after the war the company became an important supplier to the west german sugar beet industry . since 1963 it has established subsidiaries in europe north and south america asia and north africa . expansion and acquisitions edit in the 1950s the company began intensifying its business in western and south european countries . at the same time it also started to expand its activities in the us sugar beet market . in 1956 kws established the company segenta in chile and pan tohum islah ve retme a.s. in turkey . in 1967 68 it began merging its cereal breeding activities with the companies heine peragis and lochow petkus gmbh . in 2008 kws acquired lochow petkus gmbh which was subsequently renamed kws lochow gmbh . 6 in 1968 kws collaborated with the american plant breeder northrup king company to found the company betaseed . in 1978 it founded kws seeds inc. to manage all business activities in north america . in the 1990s the company acquired the argentinean breeding company trebol sur which was then renamed kws argentina in 1997 . in 2000 the french plant breeding group limagrain and kws decided to merge their corn business in north america and formed the joint venture agreliant . in 2003 kws founded kws t rk in turkey to enhance the distribution of seeds in north africa morocco tunisia libya and egypt and middle eastern countries including iran iraq and lebanon . 7 in 2008 kws and the dutch van rijn group established a joint venture in breeding potato seeds and in april 2011 kws acquired the remaining interests in van rijn and formed the subsidiary kws potato b.v. 8 in september 2011 it founded a joint venture with the chinese company kenfeng to manage the production and distribution of corn seed in china . 9 in october 2011 kws and the french seed producer vilmorin formed a research collaboration as a 50 50 joint venture company to develop gm corn traits . 10 in june 2012 kws acquired the brazilian companies sem lia and delta that are located in paran and run four breeding stations in brazil . on 1 july 2012 both companies merged to form kws brasil pesquisa & sementes ltda . as of 1 july 2012 kws acquired a majority shareholder position in the company riber whose name was then changed to riber kws sementes s.a. this company situated in the brazilian state minas gerais will continue its focus on the brazilian market through offering gm corn hybrids and soybean varieties . 11 research and collaboration edit kws is a supporter of gabi a collaborative network of plant genomic research projects . gabi an acronym for genomanalyse im biologischen system pflanze genome analysis in biological system plant is financed by the federal ministry of education and research bmbf with the purpose to promote plant genome research in germany . 12 from 2008 2011 together with the federal ministry of food agriculture and consumer protection bmelv it funded projects executed by the federal research center for cultivated plants julius k hn institut and university of hohenheim s research focus biotechnology and plant breeding in baden w rttemberg . the project topics include genetic improvement of resistance to fusariosis and avoidance of bird repellents by repellents from natural products . 13 the company and basf plant science are also collaborating on a long term project to develop sugar beet varieties with higher sugar and energy yields as well as greater drought tolerance . 14 references edit http www.kws.com aw about kws corporate governance executive board ejzt kws . 1 january 2015 . retrieved 09 april 2015 . http www.kws.com global show document.asp id aaaaaaaaaaujrpv kws . october 2015 . retrieved 13 january 2016 . investorenpr sentation kws saat ag september 2013 https www.kws.de global show document.asp id aaaaaaaaaaffxwo vilmorin presentation may 2013 http www.vilmorin.info vilmorin cms files reunions information presentation % 20may % 202013.pdf detlef diestel sugar refinery klein wanzleben from foundation to 1917 18 in landwirtschaft und kapitalismus bd . 1 teil 2 berlin 1979 p. 63 betina mei ner planting seeds for success wallstein publishing house g ttingen 2007 pp. 90 91 . http investing.businessweek.com research stocks private snapshot.asp privcapid 118953744 . investingbusinessweek . retrieved 30 october 2011 . betina mei ner planting seeds for success wallstein publishing house g ttingen 2007 pp. 90 91 . http www.potatopro.com lists news dispform.aspx id 5091 . potatopro .26 march 2011 . retrieved 1 november 2011 . http seedquest.securesites.net news.php type news & id article 21006 & id region 10 & id category & id crop 68 . seedquestsecuresites . 26 september 2011 . retrieved 30 october 2011 . http www.seedtoday.com articles vilmorin and kws join efforts in gm corn trait development 115872.html . seedtoday . 26 october 2011 . retrieved 2 november 2011 . http www.kws.com aw investor relations news kws enters brazilian seed market 2012 0 elje . kws . 2 july 2012 . retrieved 18 october 2012 . http gabi.de . gabi . retrieved 30 october 2011 . http www.fisaonline.de index.php lang en & act funding & fp id 119 . fisa . retrieved 30 october 2011 . http www.isaaa.org kc cropbiotechupdate article default.asp id 5339 . isaaa . 22 january 2011 . retrieved 1 november 2011 . bibliography edit betina mei ner planting seeds for success wallstein publishing house g ttingen 2007 pp. 90 91 . detlef diestel sugar refinery klein wanzleben from foundation to 1917 18 in landwirtschaft und kapitalismus bd . 1 teil 2 berlin 1979 pp. 63 90 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to kws saat ag . official website www.gabi.de v t e sdax companies of germany adler real estate alstria office reit amadeus fire baywa bertrandt biotest borussia dortmund braas monier building group capital stage cewe color comdirect bank deutz ag deutsche beteiligungs ag dic asset ferratum gerry weber international gesco gfk grammer grenkeleasing hamborner reit hhla heidelberger druckmaschinen hornbach holding hornbach baumarkt indus holding koenig & bauer kws saat mlp ag patrizia immobilien prime office puma rational saf holland schaltbau sgl carbon shw sixt sixt leasing stabilus str er media takkt tele columbus tlg immobilien tom tailor vossloh vtg wacker neuson zeal network zooplus retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title kws saat & oldid 735071552 categories biotechnology companies of germanycompanies listed on the frankfurt stock exchangesocietates europaeaehidden categories use dmy dates from january 2013commons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent 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