Surges on new deal with DowDuPont's agriculture unit

S&W Seed Co

23/05/2019 13:47

** Shares of the agricultural seeds developer  SANW.O  soar
~35% to $3.38 premarket, one of the top 3 percentage gainers
among Nasdaq-listed stocks 
    ** Signs a new alfalfa licensing agreement with Corteva
Agriscience, the agriculture unit of DowDuPont  DWDP.N , under
which S&W will receive $45 mln in cash at closing  
    ** Agreement replaces December 2014 agreements between S&W
and Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc, part of Corteva 
    ** Agreement includes $25 mln in payments over regularly
scheduled dates concluding February 2021  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nPn4KTxwa
    ** "The transaction significantly improves our financial
position and strategic flexibility at a time when we believe
there are a number of attractive potential acquisitions in the
seed industry," CEO Mark Wong
    ** Up to Wednesday's close, stock up ~38% YTD 

 (Reporting by Shanti S Nair in Bengaluru)
 ((Reuters Messaging:
shantis.nair.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))