Summit Nutrients LLC., a manufacturer and marketer of bio-nutritional and fertilizer products based in Belle Glade, Fla., announced on Sept. 8 that it has acquired AGVNT LLC, an R&D company known for pioneering technology related to nutrient efficiency innovations.
Summit said the intellectual properties acquired include patents, trademarks, registrations, data packages, and physical assets associated with the formulation and manufacturing of technologies. As part of the transaction, AGVNT’s research workforce has transferred to Summit, along with its manufacturing divisions.
“AGVNT is recognized throughout the industry for its high-performing, differentiated technology, which will position us for future growth in serving a greater diversity of crops and geographies,” said Jeremy Fountain, Director of Business Development for Summit Nutrients. “By pairing AGVNT’s market-leading assets with our rapidly transforming portfolio, manufacturing, and commercial product skills, we immediately offer a compelling value proposition which we plan to scale across more acres domestically and internationally.”
Summit said the acquisition is part of its growth strategy to build “the industry’s broadest, most robust platform of nutrient efficiency technologies.” Summit’s parent company, Wedgworth’s Inc., has reportedly worked closely with AGVNT over the last five years to develop more than 100 different bio-nutritional granular and liquid custom-blended products, which have been commercially applied on more than five million US crop and turf acres to date.
“We are thrilled to join Summit Nutrients because of its impressive agronomic and commercial capabilities,” said Patrick Chapman, President and Co-owner of AGVNT. “The ability to expand AGVNT’s commercial reach and be part of a broad product portfolio was a great incentive. Together, both organizations can move forward on multiple levels, including R&D, joint development opportunities, manufacturing, and commercial activities.”
Summit said it is launching six solutions in the agriculture, turf, and ornamental markets that use nanobubble gases, new chelation and biostimulant technology, active carbon complex technology, and new nutrient delivery and compatibility technology. With record-high fertilizer costs looming over the 2023 planting crop season, Fountain said there has never been a more urgent time for the introduction of new technology and products to help customers maximize efficiencies.
“Bringing AGVNT into the fold bolsters our ability to create value in multiple areas including nutrient use efficiency, abiotic stress tolerance, biological and microbial soil health, and intrinsic yield improvement,” he said. “To our knowledge, no company in the plant nutrition sector has this caliber of proprietary technology under one roof like we have today – allowing us to become a one-stop shop for next-generation solutions.”