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

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (545)	11/13/1998 10:45:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2539

Monsanto Pushes Back Antitrust Deadline in DeKalb Buy (Update2) Bloomberg News November 13, 1998, 6:50 p.m. ET Monsanto Pushes Back Antitrust Deadline in DeKalb Buy (Update2) (Adds new details from late-day SEC filings and makes editing changes throughout.) Washington, Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Monsanto Co. put the U.S. Justice Department on notice that it views Nov. 22 as the deadline for antitrust enforcers to review the world's largest agricultural biotech company's $2.3 billion purchase of DeKalb Genetics Corp. The announcement, made by both companies in Securities and Exchange Commission filings after the stock market closed, delayed a self-imposed Monday deadline that was mutually agreed on with the Justice Department's antitrust division in mid- September. The companies said in SEC filings that they delivered a letter to federal antitrust enforcers on Nov. 12, starting a 10- day countdown on the merger review process. After that, the companies are free to close the transaction, announced in May, unless the government seeks a court order to block it. Analysts and investors said antitrust enforcers may have concerns about the vertical integration that would result when Monsanto, the maker of popular weed-killer Roundup and other agricultural chemicals, buys the second-largest U.S. seed company. ''Monsanto's biggest product is Roundup,'' said Washington antitrust attorney Ray Jacobsen. ''Antitrust enforcers could be worried that, if you own a big seed company, you won't have an incentive to sell your herbicide to other seed companies. And there's no fix to that really, since you can't require Monsanto to deal with other companies.'' DeKalb Senior Vice President John Witmer Jr. declined comment on the status of the antitrust review, referring calls to Monsanto. A Monsanto spokeswoman didn't return a call for comment and a Justice Department spokeswoman declined comment on the antitrust review. Both companies also extended the deadline for financing for the transaction until Nov. 27. In May, Monsanto offered $100 a share for the remaining 60 percent of DeKalb it didn't own. In June, the Justice Department asked for more information about the agriculture seed market in which both companies' businesses overlap. Antitrust enforcers also have asked for more information about Monsanto's proposed purchase of Delta & Pine Land Co., a transaction that would give Monsanto more than 80 percent of the U.S. cottonseed market. St. Louis-based Monsanto owns several seed companies, including Holden's Foundation Seeds Inc., which sells corn germ plasm to corn seed retailers, and Asgrow Agronomics, which sells a range of row crops. DeKalb, based in DeKalb, Illinois, is the No. 2 seller of corn seed in North America, behind Pioneer Hi-Bred. It also sells soybean, sorghum and alfalfa seeds. With the deadline near, shares of DeKalb closed Friday at 90, down 15/16. Shares of Monsanto, which recently scrapped its own merger with American Home Products Corp., rose 9/16 to 38 9/16. --Anne Marie Squeo in Washington at 202-624-1862 /rad/jhr