The Gowan Company announced Nov. 30 that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the entire global dinitroaniline (DNA) herbicide portfolio from Dow AgroSciences LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company.

The acquisition includes global product registrations and trademarks, including Treflan, Edge, Team, Bonalan and Sonalan, intellectual property and labels for herbicides based on the molecules trifluralin, benfluralin and ethalfluralin. 

A formulation and packaging facility in Sturgeon County in Alberta, Canada is also part of the transaction.

The transaction is expected to close by year end 2015. Agreement and financial terms were not disclosed.

According to a Gowan statement, DNA herbicides were one of the first families of selective soil herbicides and have been a part of weed management programs for more than half a century.

The global DNA business Gowan will acquire has a broad regulatory presence with active registrations in 22 countries, including the U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia, and parts of Europe.

These products provide proven control of annual grasses and small seeded broadleaf weeds in a wide range of crops including cotton, beans, canola, cereals, crucifers, cucurbits, and vegetables.

Juli Jessen, CEO of the Gowan Group, said, “We are enthusiastic to be able to acquire these proven products in this critical era for herbicide resistance management. The products are particularly significant for us in Canada and Europe where our growing sales force is centered on extending the utility of herbicide programs.”

Lessen added, “We are grateful for the opportunity to defend and evolve the DNAs for niches that have long been our sweet spot, such as vegetables and turf. This move is part of Gowan’s continued efforts to deliver solid chemistry to help solve our customers’ needs.”

Ramiro De La Cruz, vice-president of crop protection for Dow AgroSciences, says these products have been essential to modern weed control, and the company’s sale of the DNA business does not diminish this history as the company looks to the future and investing in innovative and differentiated products.