KWS Saat
| Company type | Public (Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien with a Societas Europaea as general partner) |
|---|---|
| FWB: KWS SDAX | |
| Industry | Agriculture, Biotechnology |
| Predecessor | (1856) Rabbethge, Giesecke & Reinecke OHG (offene Handelsgesellschaft) (1864) Rabbethge & Giesecke OHG (1885) Conversion of the OHG into Zuckerfabrik (sugar refinery) Klein Wanzleben formerly Rabbethge & Giesecke AG (1937) Rabbethge & Giesecke AG (1946) Rescue company Rabbethge & Giesecke Saatzucht GmbH (1951) Kleinwanzlebener Saatzucht formerly Rabbethge & Giesecke AG (1975) KWS Kleinwanzlebener Saatzucht AG formerly Rabbethge & Giesecke (1999) KWS SAAT AG (2015) KWS SAAT SE (2019) KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA |
| Founded | Klein Wanzleben, Germany (1856) |
| Founder | Matthias Christian Rabbethge |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Europe, North America, South America, Asia, the Middle East, North Africa |
Key people | Felix Büchting (CEO), Hagen Duenbostel (Chairman of the supervisory board) |
| Products | seeds varieties for : sugar beet, corn, cereals, vegetables |
| Revenue | €1,678.1 million (2023/24) |
| €130.8 million (2023/24) | |
| Total assets | € 2,956.1 million (2023/24) |
| Owner | As of 30 June 2019: Families Büchting/Arend Oetker (54.4%) Tessner Beteiligungs GmbH (15.4%) free float (30.2%) |
Number of employees | 4,673 (2023/2024) |
| Subsidiaries | the largest subsidiaries are: AgReliant Genetics LLC., (50%)- (USA) cereals: KWS LOCHOW GMBH (100%)- (Germany) |
| Website | http://www.kws.com |
KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA (ISIN: DE0007074007) is a European independent and family-owned company based in Germany that focuses on plant breeding, with breeding and distribution activities in about 70 countries. KWS is one of the largest seed producer worldwide. The product range includes seed varieties for sugar beet, corn, cereals and vegetables. The capital letters "K," "W" and "S" in the name KWS stand for Klein Wanzlebener Saatzucht, which means seed breeding from Klein Wanzleben. The company's original headquarters were in Klein Wanzleben, an East German town located near the city of Magdeburg. Since 1945, the company is headquartered in Einbeck, Germany. Its main markets are in Europe, North and South America as well as Asia. In 1954, the company went public on the Hamburg-Hannover Stock Exchange and has been on the SDAX list of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since June 2006. In addition, the shares are listed in the Nisax20 index of shares in Lower Saxony.