DuPont Gains Control of Africa Seed Maker After Three-Year Delay

DuPont Co., the world’s second-largest seed company, completed its purchase of a stake in closely held Pannar Seed Ltd., overcoming an almost three-year delay to gain control of Africa’s largest producer.

DuPont’s Pioneer unit acquired 80 percent of Greytown, South Africa-based Pannar, Paul E. Schickler, Pioneer’s president said in a phone interview. Terms weren’t disclosed. The transaction, announced Sept. 15, 2010, required antitrust approvals in about a dozen countries, including South Africa, which initially rejected the takeover, Schickler said.