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

To: John F Beule who wrote (870)	1/13/1999 7:00:00 PM
From: jopawa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2539

Wednesday January 13, 1:17 pm Eastern Time Monsanto plans to auction algin business ST. LOUIS, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Life sciences firm Monsanto Co. (NYSE:MTC - news) said Wednesday it plans to auction its algin business, which makes products used in food, pharmaceutical and industrial applications, as part of a plan to finance more than $6 billion in seed company acquisitions. In a statement, the maker of Roundup herbicide, Nutrasweet artificial sweetener and many other products, said it is in the process of identifying prospective buyers for the algin unit and will hold an auction in early 1999. Analysts had speculated that the algin business would come up for sale after Monsanto said in November it would divest some non-core assets as it completed several major planned acquisitions. At that time, Monsanto said the asset sales would generate at least $1 billion. ''Although the algin business is less critically strategic to Monsanto's long-term vision, it is a viable business and has a long-standing history of industry leadership,'' Arnold Donald, co-president of Monsanto's nutrition and consumer business unit, said in a statement. ''We're now beginning the process of identifying the components of a sale transaction, as well as a list of prospective buyers,'' he said. ''We should command a good value for this business.'' Algin is made from seaweed and is useful for its stabilizing, suspending and gelling properties in food, pharmaceuticals and industrial applications. It can be used in such products as ice cream, cosmetic creams and pastes. Shares of Monsanto were up $2 to $43.81 per share in afternoon New York Stock Exchange trading.