Along with the 1994 buyout of the second largest Brazilian seed company, the Agroflora, a planting and pasturing company, Sakata increased its number of international operational bases. By April 1997 Sakata controlled seven foreign subsidiaries and four second-generation subsidiaries. The International Division was established as an international business operations HQ. Also,The Korean office (Presently Sakata Korea SKC) was established in 1997, and companies such as the Sakata Seed (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (SCN) were established in China in 1998.

In December 1999, expansion abroad began in earnest, and Mr. Kaneko suddenly passed away after 20 years of solid contribution to the development of the company, since his appointment as Representative Director.