Plant Health Care Acquires VAMTech Inc.

PITTSBURGH -- Plant Health Care, Inc. (PHC), a leading provider of natural products for plants and soil, has acquired VAMTech, Inc., which specializes in the synthesis of formononetin, a compound that stimulates the growth of beneficial mycorrhizal fungi, a naturally occurring, soilborne fungi that exists in healthy soil. The transaction includes all technology and patents surrounding VAMTech's formononetin production.

Formononetin is demonstrated to increase yields of row crops such as corn, soybeans and cotton, even when used in small quantities. PHC plans to aggressively target these crop markets worldwide with the newly-acquired VAMTech technology.

PHC's technology is based on mycorrhizal fungi, an essential part of all plant growth. In soil, mycorrhizal fungi are readily available to plants. As the earth and plants evolved, conditions were extremely harsh. Plants and the fungi developed a mutually beneficial relationship in which it helped plants better absorb minerals and nutrients.

However, in urban landscapes and most farmland, the fungi are not present in sufficient quantities to benefit plants. Studies show that stimulating plant roots with mycorrhizal fungal products increases the surface area of the root system and improves plant health and survivability.

PHC has developed processes that isolate and concentrate Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (VAM) fungal spores which allow PHC products longer shelf life than similar products. VAM spores can be mixed effectively with other biological (beneficial bacteria) and non-biological (biostimulants) ingredients which enable PHC to diversify its product portfolio.

"VAMTech has traditionally been an R&D company, but PHC now provides routes to market its technologies through our own sales channels," John Brady, CEO of PHC, says. "In addition, we will be able to target new markets, agriculture being the most important.

"While this acquisition is small in cash terms, its impact on PHC will be significant," Brady adds. "It means we now own the rights to a powerful patented product that has broad applications across all of our extensive product lines and makes them more effective."

Plant Health Care, Inc. is a microbial biotechnology company that develops products and provides technical support for turf, ornamental and agricultural professionals who adopt a "plant health care" approach to plant, turf, crop and land management. Additional information is available at www.planthealthcare.com.