Monsanto to Buy Seminis Inc.

NEW YORK - Jan 24/05 - SNS -- Monsanto Company will pay U.S. $1.4 billion to purchase Seminis, Inc., as well as assume the company's debt and make a performance payment of up to $125 million by the end of fiscal year 2007.

Seminis is a major international seed producer for the vegetable and fruit seed industry. The company supplies more than 3,500 seed varieties to commercial fruit and vegetable growers, dealers, distributors and wholesalers in more than 150 countries around the world.

Bruno Ferrari, currently the president and chief operating officer of Seminis, will continue to lead Seminis, which is expected to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Monsanto upon completion of the acquisition. The Seminis business will report into Brett Begemann, executive vice president for Monsanto.

In its 2004 fiscal year, Seminis reported annual sales of $526 million.

In addition to Seminis' leading presence in the vegetable and fruit seed industry, which is expected to contribute to Monsanto's financial results in the near-term, Monsanto management sees additional benefits longer term.

From a technology perspective, Monsanto intends to continue on the path taken by Seminis for its business, which is to focus on developing products via advanced breeding techniques. Longer term, biotechnology applications could be an option, and will be evaluated in the context of Monsanto's research-and-development priorities and potential commercial business opportunities.