Ceres, Inc.

Ceres, Inc. was a biotechnology company based in Thousand Oaks, California, United States that operated from 1996 to 2016, when it was acquired by Land O'Lakes. The company was a spinoff from UCLA researchers. Its ultimate commercial products were seeds of genetically modified crops used for biofuel production.[1][2] In addition to its operations in the United States, Ceres had a subsidiary in Brazil called Ceres Sementes do Brasil.[3]

Ceres, Inc.
TypePublic
(Acquired by Land O'Lakes)
NASDAQ: CERE
IndustryBiotechnology
Founded1996
Headquarters
Thousand Oaks, California
,
United States
Key people
Richard Hamilton (President and CEO)
ProductsSeeds of energy crops
SubsidiariesCeres Sementes do Brasil
Websiteceres.net

History

The company was founded in 1996 by UCLA professor Bob Goldberg and corporate partners with an initial capital of $50 million and an off-campus laboratory site overlooking Malibu, CA.[4] Richard Flavell was Chief Scientific Officer from 1998 until the 2012 public offering.[5] From its 2012 initial public offering that raised $65 million until its acquisition, it was listed on the NASDAQ exchange.[6][1][7] In 2012, the largest shareholders were Artal Luxembourg, Warburg Pincus, Ambergate Trust, and Oxford Bioscience, while biotechnology company Monsanto had 4.8% stake.[1] The company's president and CEO was Richard Hamilton.[8]

On June 21, 2016, Ceres was acquired by Land O'Lakes for $17.2 million.[9]

Products and research

Ceres sold sweet sorghum, switchgrass and high biomass sorghum seeds,[1] starting in 2009.[10] It tested biofuel production from switchgrass and miscanthus.[7] In 2010, Ceres started to cooperate with Novozymes to improve the enzyme cocktails for biorefinery switchgrass and sweet sorghum.[11] USAID funded Ceres' research on biotech traits and trait stacks in rice for Asia.[12]

References
  1. Herndon, Andrew (2012-02-22). "Ceres Rises on First Trading Day for Biofuels Crop Company". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
  2. Shah, Aman (2012-01-25). "Ceres Inc sees IPO priced at $21-$23/share". Reuters. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
  3. "Ceres to seed sorghum in Brazil". Ethanol Producer Magazine. 2010-09-23. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
  4. JACOBS, PAUL (1999-12-31). "A Few Rush to Exploit New Biotech Crops". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  5. https://csimarket.com/stocks/CERE-Officers-Directors.html
  6. "Ceres Announces Fiscal Second Quarter 2012 Financial Results". 2012-04-12. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  7. Dickerson, Marla (2012-01-25). "California biofuel firm Ceres plans public offering". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
  8. "Ceres Unveils Switchgrass Seed Brand for Cellulosic Feedstock". Sustainable Business. 2008-01-05. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
  9. "Land O'Lakes Acquires Ag Biotech Developer Ceres Inc". hayandforage.com. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  10. Ann Hinch for Farmworld Online May 7 2008 Genome firm will sell biomass seeds for ’09 growing season
  11. Zimmerman, Cindy (2010-05-20). "Novozymes and Ceres Partner on Biofuel Crops". Domestic Fuel. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
  12. "Energy crop company Ceres receives additional $3.5M from USAID for trait stacks for rice". Green Car Congress. 2012-11-09. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
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