Tim and Sharyn Abbott of Fairfield, Vermont, have recently purchased the business of St. Jacobs ABC from the members of St. Jacobs Animal Breeding Cooperative. In April of this year, St. Jacobs Animal Breeding Cooperative made the decision to sell the business to Tim and Sharyn Abbott, who have formed the new business St. Jacobs Animal Breeding Corporation. "The STJ Board of Directors is excited to see Tim and Sharyn carry on this very successful business. We believe this move is in the best interest of our 44 members, who overwhelmingly support this sale. We are thrilled that the St. Jacobs name will live on in the industry and are pleased that the ABS STJ partnership will continue just as it has for years," states Keith Wideman, President of the St. Jacobs ABC Board. St. Jacobs started as a technician service in Waterloo County, Ontario, in 1958, with the current bull housing facility being built at Elmira in 1972. St. Jacobs began a successful partnership with ABS Global, Inc. in 1990, and has found a tremendous amount of success in the past two decades, marketing bulls such as RED MARKER*RC, KITE*RC, DUNDEE, AFTERSHOCK, and DESTRY*RC. St. Jacobs also founded the Judge's Choice™ program in 2001. St. Jacobs' products will continue to be sold exclusively by distributors and employees of ABS Global, Inc. The STJ sale includes all bulls in the current STJ program as well as all females in the STJ Elite Female program, including Tri-Day Ashlyn, DUNDEE Hezbollah, and Talent Barbara. In a separate adjacent transaction, ABS Global Inc. has purchased 100% ownership of the bull facilities at Elmira, Ontario. Previously the facilities were owned 50% by STJ and 50% by ABS Global, Inc. "The St. Jacobs business has been a huge part of our lives for the past 7 years. This, combined with my 20 years of work with ABS, makes the transition of the business very simple and clean. The great news for customers and suppliers of genetics is that they will see no changes in the business. We believe we can continue the great tradition St. Jacobs has built," adds Tim Abbott, new co-owner of St. Jacobs Animal Breeding Corporation. "Although new owners are Tim and Sharyn, the longstanding relationship between ABS and St. Jacobs remains the same. ABS has had a long and positive relationship with both St. Jacobs and Tim Abbott over the past 20 years. Although Tim will no longer be an ABS employee under this new relationship, we are very much looking forward to working with both Tim and Sharyn to ensure that ABS customers continue to have access to the elite genetic product line they have come to expect with 94H St. Jacobs bulls," comments Denny Funk, Group Chief Scientist of Genus, plc. Located in Fairfield, Vermont, St. Jacobs ABC has been in the development of elite dairy genetics since 1958. St. Jacobs ABC is the supplier of some of ABS' most prestigious genetics. Headquartered in DeForest, Wisconsin, ABS Global is the world leader in bovine genetics, reproduction services and technologies. ABS has been at the forefront of animal genetics and technology since its founding in 1941. ABS Global is a division of Genus plc. 07.08.2011