ICL completes majority acquisition of Lavie Bio from Evogene - biologicals consolidation accelerates

ICL Group has completed the acquisition of a controlling 68% stake in Lavie Bio from Evogene, in a deal valued at $92M including assumed debt. The transaction gives ICL full commercial rights to Lavie Bio's portfolio of microbial bioinsecticides and biofungicides, including the EPA-registered Yalon product line. The deal is strategically significant because it marks ICL's pivot from a mineral-fertilizer company to a crop-inputs platform that spans chemistry, biologicals, and digital. CEO Raviv Zoller has publicly stated that biologicals will represent 25% of ICL's crop-nutrition revenue by 2029, up from 4% today. For Evogene, the divestiture allows the computational biology platform to focus on its upstream AI-driven discovery engine, licensing output to strategic partners rather than carrying the capital burden of commercialization. Evogene retains a 32% stake and royalty rights on new products entering the pipeline. The broader signal is clear: biologicals M&A is accelerating. In the last 18 months, BASF acquired Dunham Trimmer, Syngenta took full ownership of Valagro, and Corteva increased its stake in Symborg. The majors are buying proven microbial assets rather than building internal R&D - a pattern that creates attractive exit valuations for Series B/C biologicals startups. For farmers, the consolidation should accelerate product availability and reduce pricing as major distributors push biological bundling into existing chemical programs. The risk is reduced innovation velocity if independent startups get absorbed before their novel modes of action reach market.