Japan’s Mitsui & Co. has agreed to buy 62% of Belgian agrochemical company Belchim Crop Protection (BCP) from parent Belchim Management for an undisclosed sum.

The deal, which will be done through Mitsui’s wholly owned subsidiary Mitsui AgriScience International (MASI), will be done in two steps. Once antitrust approval has been granted and all other customary conditions fulfilled, then MASI will acquire 30% of Belchim Management’s shares, making BCP its consolidated subsidiary. The remaining 32% stake will be acquired in or after February 2021.

BCP develops and distributes crop protection products for its other shareholders, ISK BioSciences Europe, which holds 28% in the Belgian company, and Mitsui Chemicals Agro, which has held 10% since February 2017.

Mitsui said the alignment of BCP’s activities with its agrochemicals growth strategy was the reason behind the acquisition. The Tokyo-based group has identified nutrition and agriculture as one of its key growth areas in its medium-term management plan.

In the agrochemicals sector, Mitsui has been expanding its business in Europe through subsidiary Certis Europe, which is held as a joint venture with Japanese firms Nippon Soda and Kumiai Chemical Industry. MASI holds 75.3% of Certis Europe, with Nippon Soda and Kumiai holding 20.3% and 4.4%, respectively.

In the US, Mitsui has been developing its business through Certis USA, which manufactures and distributes biological pesticides.

The Japanese group has also started to build a significant presence in the Brazilian market through an investment in Ouro Fino Quimica earlier this year. Mitsui and ISK took stakes of 20% and 5% respectively in the Uberaba, Minas Gerais-based company, which makes a range of agrochemicals, including fungicides, herbicides and insecticides.