Bureau Veritas acquires KMA to expand agri-food business in Brazil

Press release

By Bureau Veritas

December 21, 2016

Bureau Veritas has completed the acquisition of Kuhlmann Monitoramento Agrícola Ltda. (KMA), a Brazilian company specialized in monitoring and auditing services for the agri-food sector.

KMA, in operation since 2005, is the Brazilian leader in agricultural monitoring, cotton testing and biotechnology auditing of seeds. Headquartered in Pinhais, Paraná, in the south of the country, the company is also present in Brazil's main agricultural production regions and has two laboratories. Its client portfolio includes the major global groups in the agri-food and chemical sectors. KMA has 250 employees and is expected to generate annual revenues of around EUR 12.5 million in 2016.

The company has experienced strong growth in recent years in a favorable context. Agriculture and agri-food are thriving sectors in Brazil, and play an important role in the country's foreign trade.

"The addition of KMA enables us to diversify our activities in Brazil and makes Bureau Veritas a market leader in one of the biggest agricultural markets in the world in upstream services. This move also supports our strategic ambitions in the agri-food sector on a global scale", said Didier Michaud-Daniel, Chief Executive Officer of Bureau Veritas.

Eduardo Kuhlmann, Chief Executive Officer of KMA, added: "This agreement is great news for KMA. It will benefit our employees, who are now part of a global leader, and it will strengthen our relationship of trust with our customers. Our complementary activities allow us to develop new services to continue to contribute to the expansion of agribusiness with innovative solutions."