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To: David L. Carter who wrote (7560)	2/19/1999 4:23:00 PM
From: Probart	Respond to of 8359

Fidelity Began Selling AgriBioTech Shares Just Before Bad News Las Vegas, Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Fidelity Investments, the biggest U.S. fund management company, sold 195,600 shares of AgriBioTech Inc. in the two days before the turf and forage-seed company told investors that its three-month hunt for a buyer ended in failure, according to a regulatory filing. On Jan. 25, the first trading day after the inability to find a buyer was announced, shares of AgriBioTech plummeted 26 percent. Fidelity-managed mutual funds have since sold all their AgriBioTech shares. They still hold 60,000 warrants. The funds sold 11.5 million shares, for a loss of $47.4 million. The shares were bought at an average price of $12.83 and sold for an average of $8.80. While Fidelity didn't say which funds bought and sold AgriBioTech shares, the Magellan Fund owned 1.1 million shares, or 2.9 percent of AgriBioTech, as of Sept. 30. Fidelity still controls 2.6 million shares of AgriBioTech outside of its mutual fund system. This includes 365,000 AgriBiotech shares held for private accounts managed by Fidelity Management Trust Co. and 2.3 million shares held for international accounts at its offshore subsidiary, Fidelity International Ltd., based in Bermuda. Fidelity executives weren't immediately available for comment. Fidelity was AgriBioTech's largest shareholder in early January with 4.3 million shares, or 10.7 percent. AgriBioTech put itself up for sale in October, hiring Merrill Lynch & Co. and later Deutsche Bank AG to help find a buyer. The company said it expected to find a buyer by early February, for between $25 and $50 a share. Persons familiar with the process said there were no bids for the company. Separately, AgriBioTech said it wasn't in compliance with the terms of a $69.8 million loan from Bank America Business Credit on Dec. 31, according to a regulatory filing. The bank waived the violation, and AgriBioTech subsequently borrowed more money under the revolving line of credit. The loan totaled $83 million as of Feb. 10, according to AgriBioTech's quarterly report filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The violation was in the debt service coverage covenant of the loan, the Las Vegas-based company said. AgriBioTech lost $10.3 million, or 26 cents a share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $1.4 million, or 5 cents, in the same period a year earlier. The company was expected to lose 6 cents, according to the average estimate of three analysts polled by First Call Corp. Its shares rose 3/16 to 5 1/2 in afternoon trading. They have fallen 57.5 percent this year. On Monday, the company will conduct its annual meeting, beginning at 10 a.m. local time, in Henderson, Nevada.

To: David L. Carter who wrote (7560)	2/19/1999 4:24:00 PM
From: Probart	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 8359

AgriBioTech Out of Compliance With Terms of Bank America Loan Las Vegas, Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- AgriBioTech Inc. wasn't in compliance with the terms of a $69.8 million loan from Bank America Business Credit on Dec. 31, according to a regulatory filing. The bank waived the violation, and the turf and forage seed company subsequently borrowed more money under the revolving line of credit. The loan totaled $83 million as of Feb. 10, according to AgriBioTech's quarterly report filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The violation was in the debt service coverage covenant of the loan, the Las Vegas-based company said. AgriBioTech lost $10.3 million, or 26 cents a share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with $1.4 million, or 5 cents, in the same period a year earlier. The company was expected to lose 6 cents, according to the average estimate of three analysts polled by First Call Corp. 15:21:17 02/19/1999