Cary, North Carolina – October 29, 2012 – Verdesian Life Sciences, LLC announces the addition of Greg Thompson as Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, effective immediately.

Greg will be responsible for driving sales in key U.S. markets as Verdesian begins to roll out its strategy to be a leader in the plant health and nutrition segment.

Thompson most recently held the position of Executive Vice President – Sales & Marketing at Nufarm. While in this role, he was instrumental in driving growth and diversification. Greg excelled at increasing profits in the Agriculture and Specialty business as he supervised a national team of sales and marketing account managers.

Greg will be reporting to Chief Executive Officer, J.J. Grow, with whom he already has a history. Grow and Thompson worked closely at Etigra where Greg spent several years as Director Of National Accounts. There he was responsible for sales and marketing in the Vegetation Management and Turf & Ornamental segments.

“Greg is recognized as a top industry sales and marketing leader and I am excited to have him on our team. He joins Verdesian with a very strong background in building world class sales teams. We're looking forward to his contributions," says Grow. "His background and leadership experience will be critical in all phases of Verdesian’s evolution."

Thompson says, “I’m excited to have the opportunity to be involved in something substantial from the early stages. It’s an opportunity to reinvest my past experiences to help build a business through acquisition and organic growth. It will also be interesting to move into a new agricultural and turf segment that I haven’t been a part of before.”

Prior to his service at Nufarm and Etigra, Greg had a progressive career of nearly ten years at BASF where he held multiple positions. The latest of those was Regional Manager of Turf & Ornamental where he was instrumental in developing and implementing strategic planning, channel strategy and communications as well as other major aspects of the business.

About Verdesian Life Sciences, LLC

Verdesian Life Sciences, LLC, a Paine & Partners, LLC (www.painepartners.com) investment is set to become a leader in the plant health and nutrition market. Following the recent acquisition of Biagro Western, LLC, Verdesian provides customers with innovative solutions that specialize in plant nutrition, phosphite fertilizers, plant protectants and seed treatments. Verdesian focuses on products and solutions that promote healthier plants and stronger crop yields.