Proagrica, part of RELX Group, a world-leading provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of US based precision agriculture solutions company, SST Software. The transaction is subject to customary conditions and is expected to close during the first quarter of 2018.

Proagrica serves the agriculture industry by providing independent connectivity and data-driven decision support solutions, creating actionable intelligence to drive business growth across the value chain. SST Software is a leading US independent precision farming solutions company and delivers insight and decision support to agronomic advisors and growers.

“This is an important commitment to Proagrica's development, particularly in North America”, said Graeme McCracken, managing director of Proagrica, “We are delighted that our two businesses will come together to combine our solutions, customer focus and vision to deliver what I believe will be a unique solution that will provide insight into the fragmented agricultural supply chain. The combination of Proagrica’s key competencies of data connectivity and data analytics, and SST’s focus on the agriculture retail and agronomy services segment means we can better serve those who advise and sell to farmers.

Agriculture has huge opportunities to benefit from sharing data. Proagrica has both the track record and technological expertise to facilitate this transformation acting as an independent broker, protecting and nurturing trust and demonstrating the gains to be had, throughout the supply chain.”

SST will continue to trade under the SST brands alongside Proagrica’s current product portfolio. SST’s chief executive officer, Matt Waits will continue to lead the organization from its headquarters in Stillwater, Okla.

“Today, farmers are collecting more data than ever”, said Waits,” but the value of those data assets are not being fully realized due to the lack of digital compatibility in the market. Retailers, seed companies, pesticide manufacturers, and equipment companies all provide valuable services to growers, but growers cannot freely participate with these offerings due to data incompatibility. Proagrica represents a truly independent offering to the market that is focused on unlocking the value of data through seamless and trusted integration of the agricultural supply chain. Our two companies coming together will bring opportunities to all participants in agriculture and I am looking forward to working with the Proagrica team and our customers to bring this to reality”.

SST Software has been serving the growers and agronomists in the US for more than 20 years. With well-established products such as SST Summit, FarmRite and Sirrus, SST has been a driving force in the development of digital agriculture. Proagrica will continue the development of these SST solutions and particularly of SST’s agX Platform, a geospatial farm data platform that transfers data from system to system, so allowing efficient data transfer with benefits of transparency and insight. The development of platforms which integrate, standardize and synchronize across multiple data sources while protecting these data assets is Proagrica’s global expertise.