Animal Breeding Europe Limited (AB Europe), a new independent company has been launched bringing an exclusive range of professional expertise and cutting edge technologies to the UK artificial sheep and cattle breeding market, backed by substantial R&D investment.
The new business has been announced following New Zealand-based Animal Breeding Services’ agreement to purchase a major stake in Innovis Breeding Services business. AB Europe brings together New Zealand’s leading operator in sheep and cattle AI, embryo transfer and in-vitro embryo production (IVP) with the UK’s market leader.
AB Europe will offer:
- A new IVP service for sheep and cattle providing less intrusive in-vitro procedures with proven technology and systems from New Zealand
- A new dedicated IVF lab facility based at Edinburgh
- New cattle breeding services, including MOET, headed up by Scottish vet, Gavin Tait, who has been extensively trained in trans-vaginal-recovery of ova (TVR) in New Zealand
- The opportunity to use In-Vitro Embryo Transfer (JIVET) in younger animals
The new business will be managed by Geraint Thomas, with support from former Innovis Breeding Services key staff, specialist vets, on-farm teams and consultants. Each will continue to provide high quality on-farm and on-centre services, whilst there will be no apparent changes to the day to day running of the breeding centres at Malvern, Edinburgh and in Ireland. All work already booked for 2015 with Innovis Breeding Services will be transferred to AB Europe.
AB Europe’s general manager, Geraint Thomas commented: “We are pleased to have the opportunity to offer sheep and cattle breeders the latest artificial breeding technologies, with our first embryos scheduled through the lab by late spring. AB Europe will stand independently and in a position to reinvest in future R&D enhancing our range of existing animal breeding services. AB Europe is focused on supporting and enhancing growth of the UK’s breeding sector which we continue to believe has huge potential. We look forward to achieving that combined success working in partnership with individual pedigree breeders.”
