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Biotech / Medical : Monsanto Co. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (511)	11/11/1998 8:13:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 2539

Wednesday November 11, 7:59 pm Eastern Time (AP) Monsanto To Cut Up to 2,500 Jobs By ED SCHAFER Associated Press Writer ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Monsanto Co. (NYSE:MTC - news) plans to eliminate as much as 2,500 jobs and sell some non-essential businesses as part of a wide-ranging effort to reduce costs and raise $5 billion to fund key acquisitions and new products. The announcement Wednesday comes less than a month after the agricultural and pharmaceutical products company called off a $33.6 billion merger with American (NYSE:AHP - news) Home Products Corp. and posted a $100 million third-quarter loss. Monsanto, based in St. Louis, said it will raise $4 billion through stock and bond sales. It expects to raise another $1 billion by selling off some non-core businesses. The company said it expects to eliminate between 700 and 1,000 jobs, some of them at the executive level, by the beginning of 1999. Another 1,300 to 1,500 job reductions will come from businesses it will sell. The company has 28,000 employees worldwide ''It's a path we've chosen to assure financial flexibility,'' said spokesman Jeff Bergau. Bergau said no firm decisions have been made on which businesses will be sold. Monsanto made the the announcement shortly after the markets closed Wednesday. The company's shares closed down 50 cents at 38.68 3/4 on the New York Stock Exchange. The moves combined with other actions are expected to reduce administrative costs by 20 percent next year. The company said they will result in a $400 million to $600 million charge in the fourth quarter. Analysts said the move was not unexpected, especially after the merger with American Home Products of Madison, N.J., deal fell through. The merger would have been the largest in the pharmaceutical industry. Monsanto was counting on the deal to help bankroll new acquisitions and to fund the development and marketing of new pharmaceutical and agricultural products. It now is forced to raise money to fund its ambitious efforts. ''These are the growing pains associated with going it alone,'' said Tom Brakel, pharmaceutical analyst with Mehta Partners investment research firm in New York. Monsanto's marketing costs are expected to increase with the launch of key drug and agricultural products. Technology costs also will rise, driven primarily by costs associated with Monsanto's recently acquired seed businesses. ''We knew that they would be strapped for revenue in one to two years, so the fact that they're doing it now isn't really a surprise. The timing may be good for them because they're riding on the publicity from Celebrex.'' Monsanto has said it believes Celebrex, a new arthritis drug, will be available next year. The drug, which has fewer side effects than other painkillers, is under review by the Food and Drug Administration. Monsanto has signed an agreement with the big drug company Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - news) to co-market Celebrex. Monsanto recently changed the name from Celebra to Celebrex to avoid confusion with another drug on the market. Monsanto recently announced plans to acquire for $2.3 billion 60 percent of DeKalb (NYSE:DKB - news) Genetics Corp. of DeKalb, Ill., the nation's second largest seed-corn company. Monsanto owns 40 percent. Its other big seed deal, valued at $1.9 billion, is a bid for Delta (NYSE:DLP - news) & Pine Land Co., the largest U.S. cotton seed company. Monsanto has offered to swap its stock for the 95 percent of Delta it doesn't own. biz.yahoo.com

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (511)	11/11/1998 8:23:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2539

(CBS MarketWatch) Monsanto plants seeds of change in restructuring to raise $5 billion Last Update: 7:36 PM ET Nov 11, 1998 cbs.marketwatch.com

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (511)	11/11/1998 8:25:00 PM
From: Dan Spillane	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2539

No wonder Merck's stock is going down. They ain't as ready as they led people to believe. And here I thought the only advantage of the Monsanto/Searle drug is that it doesn't have the edema side-effect like the Merck drug does. Apparently Searle also has a bigger lead than we thought. (From the story) Merck has done studies based on endoscopic examinations, but said its results weren't ready by the conference's publication deadline. ''That information is what everyone is seeking at this point, but we just don't have it,'' said Kyra Lindemann, a Merck spokeswoman.