Merck Animal Health has completed a minority investment in LeeO Precision Farming B.V. Merck Animal Health also will assume distribution of LeeO's digital swine traceability solution in selected markets over the coming months. Merck Animal Health joins LeeO's existing founders and shareholders, Prairie Systems, Inc., a strategic investment of United Animal Health, Inc., and MIQ B.V. Specific terms of the minority investment were not disclosed.

LeeO, a privately held company located in Deventer, the Netherlands, provides a cloud-based, real-time digital swine traceability solution for farmers, producers and retailers to continuously track and analyze swine from birth throughout their lifecycle. The cloud-based technology platform provides users with the capability to record and track major life events in swine production, including genetics, insemination, birth registration, vaccination, age, weight, weaning, location and transportation. The platform is supported by an ecosystem of RFID-based hardware technology, such as ear tags, readers and weigh scales.

"Through this agreement, we are linking Merck Animal Health's breadth and depth in animal health intelligence technology solutions with LeeO's innovative digital swine traceability platform, which can help to change the way all phases of swine production interact and make decisions," said Jeroen van de Ven, lead, Animal Health Intelligence, Merck Animal Health. "Our animal health solutions, including our identification, traceability and monitoring capabilities, and investment in LeeO will help accelerate this technology development and advance the health and well-being of animals. We look forward to our partnership with LeeO and to continue to build the future of livestock traceability solutions, which can further create a connected and integrated ecosystem for the global livestock market."

"This investment from Merck Animal Health is an exciting development for LeeO and will be used to fuel our growth and investment in our leading digital animal traceability solution for swine," said LeeO Chief Executive Officer Peter ter Linde. "It also signals Merck Animal Health’s ongoing commitment to swine health, well-being and management and laser focus on accelerating animal traceability solutions in livestock to improve animal health. We believe Merck Animal Health's investment will further accelerate the growth and value of our company."

"Adding Merck Animal Health to the ownership of LeeO will certainly allow for growth at a faster pace, which is great for the swine industry," said Doug Webel, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of United Animal Health, Inc., a strategic partner of LeeO for food chain visibility and analytics. "We view this agreement as a key step to advancing this technology and animal traceability for better animal health."

Evidence-based animal traceability solutions have helped to safeguard and strengthen the integrity of the food supply chain. Traceability solutions, such as LeeO's digital traceability platform, provides customers with information that identifies and traces the origin, history, production and distribution throughout the lifecycle of the pig to validate sustainability claims by detailing how animals are raised and processed.

Source: Merck Animal Health, which is solely responsible for the information provided, and wholly owns the information. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.