On September 4, the Neogen Corporation announced that it had acquired the assets of Livestock Genetic Services (LGS). LGS is a Virginia-based company that was contracted last year to build and manage the American Brahman Breeders Association’s registry software.
According to LGS founder John Genho, ABBA members will notice very little differences in the near future. However, in the long run, they will have access to more features in terms of genomic integration capabilities along with better customer service and e-commerce functions because of this merger.
“After years of collaboration with Neogen, I am very pleased to be part of the much larger, very capable team of genomic professionals,” Genho said. “Our business has grown to the point that becoming part of a world-leading provider of animal genomic services will provide my customers with the best possible services and support.”
According to the ABBA, “the contract is being transferred to Neogen as it currently stands so all the terms will be identical.”
The association will continue to work directly with LGS’s database programmer Zach Johnson, the main architect for the ABBA’s new online registration system.
Neogen’s Director of Sales and Marketing Tom Schultz empathized that the acquisition is not a play to harvest member data nor is it an attempt to force ABBA members to genotype specifically with Neogen.
“Data privacy is one of our pillars to success, and we have compartmentalized LGS’s assets separate from other Neogen projects per our contractual obligation,” Schultz said. “It is not our intent to compete with current genetic evaluations or to sell members any additional services. This is an opportunity for our genomics company to expand its resources for research, development and collaboration to advance the breed.”
The purchase of Livestock Genetic Services enhances Neogen’s in-house genetic evaluation capabilities and complements the company’s global network of animal genomics laboratories.
“One value of Neogen’s genomic services is our ability to translate genomic information into timely, accurate animal trait information for cattle producers,” said Dr. Stewart Bauck, Neogen’s vice president of agrigenomics, said. “Adding Livestock Genetic Services, and its owner John Genho, will help Neogen accelerate the adoption of genomics world-wide by helping customers easily and quickly utilize genomic information in their commercial operations. This new capability will position Neogen as the only global agrigenomics business with a full end-to-end solution.”
Neogen is looking to expand their company’s international reach and offer innovative services to developing markets.
“We are a global company building a global platform,” Schultz said. “John brings a unique skillset to the bioinformatics team at Neogen. We are looking to strengthen our ability to deliver genomic technologies domestically and abroad in new markets.
Neogen is currently the world’s leading commercial agricultural genomics lab, with more than 140 scientists and technicians around the globe. The company has labs in the USA, Scotland, Brazil and Australia, as well as representatives in a plethora of countries including Mexico, Canada and many more.
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