Suba Seeds USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Suba Seeds Group BV, announced it has acquired Brotherton Seed Company for an undisclosed amount.

Founded in 1936 and headquartered in the Pacific Northwest, Brotherton has grown to become a leader in the breeding and producing of innovative and high-quality pea and bean seeds from its two facilities in Moses Lake and Quincy, Washington for the processing sector in North America. The company has particularly set itself apart through its R&D initiatives focused on pea improvements and in pioneering advances in the development of multi-podded pea varieties for commercial applications.

“We see significant growth potential in this combination, driven by cross selling and production opportunities, both by leveraging the expanded grower network and through expanding Suba’s offering to its international customer base,” said Marcello Tumedei, CEO, Suba Seeds in a recent statement. “We look forward to welcoming the talented Brotherton Seed team to the Suba Seeds family and to working with them to capitalize on those opportunities.”

Suba Seeds was itself the object of a takeover, when acquired in October 2015 by private equity firm, Paine & Partners for an undisclosed sum.

Suba is well known as the top producer, packer and distributor of coriander, and controls a portfolio of crop seeds including peas, beans, radishes, cabbage, alfalfa, carrots, chicory, and onion. The company also recently completed the construction of a state-of-the-art high throughput production facility.

This acquisition of Brotherton is indicative of Paine & Partners’ strategic plan for Suba expressed by Kevin Schwartz, president and founding partner at the firm, “With new production facilities and a strong grower footprint, Suba is well-positioned to continue capturing market share in the growing global market for specialty vegetable seed.”

Under the terms of the deal, Jerome Brotherton, managing director of Brotherton Seed will continue to advise the company and foster its development as a full-time consultant, while Brotherton’s entire team will be retained under Suba’s ownership.

“We are excited to become part of Suba Seeds, an international leader in seed production with the scale and experience to take our business to the next level, both domestically and abroad,” said Jerome Brotherton. “We are proud of what we have accomplished over Brotherton Seed’s 80-year history and we are grateful to our employees, whose hard work enabled us to become the North American leader in our varieties.”

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Lynda Kiernan