FMC to Acquire Sustainable-Pesticide Pioneer for $200 Million

Agricultural-sciences giant FMC Corp. will purchase pheromone pioneer BioPhero ApS for about $200 million as part of the buyer’s expansion into sustainable pest control.

The move comes as the agribusiness industry searches for alternatives to chemical pesticides and manmade fertilizers, with farmers increasingly under pressure to adopt environmentally friendly practices. Pests and crop diseases also are growing more resistant to synthetic chemicals. BioPhero has developed a way to produce pheromones for insect control through yeast fermentation that it says makes it cheaper to produce at commercial scale.

“This is a perfect way to help biodiversity, help lower the total use ...