Limagrain, a French-based grower-owned cooperative, is a global leader in plant breeding, seed production and commercialisation.

It is the fourth largest seed company in the world operating through subsidiaries in more than 30 countries.

Limagrain spends more than 100 million euro annually on research and development.

The Australian shareholders will retain 75pc ownership of AGT. They are the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), the University of Adelaide, the University of Sydney, and GrainCorp.

AGT chairman, Ron Storey said the agreement would significantly improve AGT’s ability to deliver on its core business of providing Australian wheat growers with ongoing gains in productivity and quality.

“Integrating international expertise into the company has been an important part of AGT’s long term strategic plan and this agreement will help to ensure AGT remains at the cutting edge of breeding technology and can capture new market opportunities for Australian growers,” Mr Storey said.

AGT chief executive officer, Dr Stephen Jefferies, said the new relationship with Limagrain was appealing to AGT shareholders due to the very similar grower and research driven culture fundamental to both organisations.

Dr Jefferies said AGT would benefit from Limagrain’s direct connection into the food supply chain, from seed to supermarket, through its investments in the production and commercialisation of cereal ingredients and bakery products.

“Limagrain Céréals Ingrédients is the European leader for functional and natural flours and has recently entered the market for bio-degradable plastics made from cereals.

"Through Jaquet, Limagrain is the second largest industrial baker in France,” Dr Jefferies said.

Through this relationship with Limagrain, AGT will also have the opportunity to join in collaborative research projects supported by Céréales Vallée,a European research cluster dedicated to innovation in cereals.