May 9 (Reuters) - BASF's agriculture unit is

aiming to expand in Asia and global seed markets as it prepares

for a stock market listing in about two years, a senior

executive told Reuters.

The German industrial chemicals giant has said that its

Agricultural Solutions unit should be ready by 2027 for an

initial public offering that could see BASF sell a minority

stake in the maker of pesticides and seeds.

"We aim to further increase our share of revenue from seeds.

We are at close to 22% and we want to move more towards 25%,"

Livio Tedeschi, the division's president, told Reuters.

Among new products underpinning that ambition, BASF is

working on hybrid wheat, an approach that has for years been

pursued by the industry to boost wheat yields, and new soy

variants that resist pests such as soil roundworms.

Tedeschi said this was a high strategic priority and it

could be supported by collaboration deals and small

acquisitions.

A particular geographic focus across products including crop

chemicals and digital services was Asia, he added.

"When measured by market share, we are under-represented in

Asia. We want to increase our market share," said Tedeschi.

BASF's agriculture business, among the four largest industry

players alongside Syngenta, Bayer and Corteva ( CTVA )

, posted global 2024 sales of 9.8 billion euros ($11.1

billion), with Asia accounting for 11.6% of that.

From North America, Europe and South America it derived

39.8%, 24.6% and 24% of sales, respectively.

Parent BASF last week said it was facing high levels of

uncertainty from U.S. tariffs and other countries' reactions to

them, but reaffirmed its earnings guidance for lack of clearer

economic indicators.

Tedeschi added that BASF's decision to separate the

agriculture unit from the rest of the business gave the unit

more autonomy and would allow it to sustain research and

development spending at 9%-10% of sales.

($1 = 0.8836 euros)

(Editing by Mark Potter)