Portfolio company Tropic acquires Rahan Meristem
Summary by AI BETAClose X
Agronomics portfolio company Tropic acquires Rahan Meristem
("Agronomics" or the "Company")
Agronomics Limited (LSE: ANIC), the leading listed company focused on clean food, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company Tropic Biosciences UK Limited ("Tropic") has acquired Rahan Meristem (1998) Limited ("Rahan"), one of the world's leading banana propagation businesses, for US$ 20 million.
Rahan has operated for more than 50 years and has an established presence in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the Philippines and Israel. The business has capacity to propagate more than 30 million plants per year and is recognised for its tissue culture and propagation expertise, principally in Cavendish banana seedlings as well as other crops including pineapple and avocado.
The acquisition gives Tropic access to an established production and distribution platform in key banana-growing regions, supporting the scale-up and commercialisation of its proprietary banana varieties. The transaction is expected to provide Tropic with a direct route to growers and to accelerate product development and commercial launches through access to Rahan's production infrastructure, field testing plots, mother plantations, agronomy know-how and customer base.
The news follows a milestone year in which Tropic raised US$ 105 Million in a Series C round, and launched the first new commercial banana varieties in more than 75 years. These include a non-browning banana - named one of TIME Magazine's Best Inventions of 2025 - and an extended shelf life variety that lengthens green life by an additional 12 days, increasing field yields, enabling new export routes and reducing transportation waste by up to 50 percent.
Tropic uses its proprietary GEiGS® platform and other advanced gene-editing technologies to develop improved crops with enhanced disease resistance, higher yields and more sustainable traits. Its current core crop portfolio focuses on banana and rice, crops that support the livelihoods of billions of people globally.
Tropic's technology platform is designed to address global agricultural challenges by developing crop solutions intended to benefit farmers, consumers and the environment.
Jim Mellon, Executive Chairman of Agronomics, commented: "The global food supply chain is facing significant pressure, with climate change accelerating the need for more resilient agricultural systems. Tropic has consistently demonstrated the strength of its platform and team, and this acquisition represents an important step in its commercial development. By gaining direct access to key grower markets, Tropic is well positioned to help deliver improved crop resilience and contribute to greater food security."
Agronomics first invested in Tropic in March 2020 and has invested a total of £2.3 million to date. Subject to audit, Agronomics' position in Tropic is currently carried at approximately £2.2 million, representing approximately 1.6 per cent of Agronomics' most recently reported Net Asset Value of £139 million as at 31 March 2026.
The full announcement from Tropic is set out below, with no material changes:
Tropic acquires leading global plant propagation business Rahan Meristem, to become a fully integrated banana genetics leader
Tropic has acquired Rahan Meristem, a leading international banana plant propagation company with operations across Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. The acquisition provides Tropic with large-scale plant production and distribution capacity in the world's major banana-exporting regions, accelerating the commercial rollout of its next-generation banana varieties and establishing the first fully integrated banana genetics company, spanning variety development, propagation and grower supply.
Bananas are one of the world's most important agricultural crops with more than 20 million tonnes exported annually. Yet global commercial production relies almost entirely on a single variety, the Cavendish, leaving growers exposed to disease pressure, supply-chain disruption and major threats including Panama disease TR4.
Using advanced gene-editing and breeding technologies, Tropic has developed improved banana varieties that retain the agronomic performance and consumer qualities of Cavendish bananas while introducing valuable new traits including disease resistance, reduced browning, extended shelf life and higher yields. These new banana varieties help growers improve productivity and resilience while delivering better-quality fruit and reducing waste across the supply chain.
Following its recent $105 million Series C funding round and the launch of the first commercially viable new banana varieties in more than 75 years, Tropic is now focused on scaling-up global production and grower adoption. The acquisition of Rahan Meristem provides the propagation capacity, operational expertise and regional presence needed to accelerate commercial deployment worldwide, and marks Tropic's evolution to an integrated seeds company servicing growers in one of the largest and most important crops globally.
By combining Tropic's gene-editing pipeline with Rahan's large-scale propagation expertise and established grower relationships, the company is creating an integrated platform capable of developing, propagating and distributing improved banana varieties at commercial scale. Rahan's existing grower relationships across the major banana-producing regions provide direct routes to market for Tropic's new varieties.
Tropic's CEO Gilad Gershon said: "Welcoming Rahan and its team into Tropic creates a remarkable joint business with the operational scale and global reach to deliver critical banana innovations to growers worldwide. Together, we can help growers improve resilience and productivity while delivering better-quality fruit and reduced waste for consumers and supply chains."
About Agronomics
Agronomics is a leading London-listed company focused on investment opportunities within the field of cellular agriculture. The Company has established a portfolio of over 20 companies developing technologies that produce food and materials historically derived from animals, offering solutions for improved sustainability, human health, and food security.
A full list of Agronomics' portfolio companies is available at www.agronomics.im.
For further information, please contact:
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Agronomics Limited |
Beaumont Cornish Limited |
Cavendish Capital Markets Limited |
Canaccord Genuity Limited |
33Seconds Limited |
|
The Company |
Nomad |
Joint Broker |
Joint Broker |
Public Relations |
|
Jim Mellon Denham Eke |
Roland Cornish James Biddle |
Giles Balleny Michael Johnson |
Andrew Potts Harry Pardoe |
Jack Ferris Joel Watson |
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+44 (0) 1624 639396 info@agronomics.im |
+44 (0) 207 628 3396 |
+44 (0) 207 397 8900 |
+44 (0) 207 523 8000
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agronomics@33seconds.co |
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