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

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (1551)	3/10/1999 2:38:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 2539

03/10 14:06 DuPont seeks alliances to bolster pharmaceuticals (changes dateline; new throughout) PHILADELPHIA, March 10 (Reuters) - DuPont Co. <DD.N> said on Wednesday it was actively seeking alliances with partners in the pharmaceuticals industry and unveiled plans to create a tracking stock to show off the hidden value of its life sciences business. The largest chemical company outside Germany is likely to strike a deal with one or more partners by the end of the year, DuPont Chief Executive Charles Holliday said in a statement. "Our goal is to bring our already solid DuPont Pharmaceuticals to critical mass through strategic alliances," he said. "Given the success of our discussions to date, we expect to be able to conclude one or more of these alliances by the end of this year." The news pushed DuPont's stock up $3.25 or just over 6 percent to $57.06 in afternoon composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange. A week after the Wilmington, Del.-based conglomerate was reported to be in merger talks with pharmaceutical and agri-chemicals maker Monsanto Co., the alliance initiative appeared to rule out a permanent combination for now. "The implication of seeking alliance partners indicates that acquisition is not our prime objective," DuPont Vice President John Himes told reporters in a conference call. "We have looked at acquisitions and at this point have not selected that as the preferred strategy," he added. Pharmaceuticals and genetically-altered agricultural products make up the life sciences business, which currently generates $4.2 billion of DuPont's $25 billion in annual sales. For a company traditionally dependent upon commodity chemicals, the emerging field promises high returns on proprietary products as the role of biotechnology is expected to grow in both the health-care and agricultural fields for decades to come. Industry analysts welcomed Wednesday's move as a potentially effective strategy for expanding DuPont's pharmaceutical business overseas. "I have long felt there were two major holes in DuPont's pharmaceuticals business: they had no economies of scale and no European/Asian coverage. And it would be expensive to build such an infrastructure," said Deutsche Bank Morgan Grenfell analyst Frank Mitsch, who advised clients to begin accumulating the stock. DuPont said it would file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in late 1999 in hopes of launching the life sciences tracking stock in the first quarter of next year. Tracking stocks are designed to isolate particular assets within a corporation. General Motors Corp., for example, has a separate tracking stock for its Hughes Electronics Corp. subsidiary. Pharmaceutical products typically are far more profitable than chemicals, which for over a century have been DuPont's lifeblood. DuPont signaled its determination to become a major player in life sciences in late 1997, when it bought a 20 percent stake in leading seed producer Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. <PHB.N> and established a research alliance with the firm. Last year, the company agreed to buy Merck & Co.'s <MRK.N> 50-percent interest in their $2.6 billion pharmaceuticals joint venture. DuPont is the maker of the leading-edge HIV drug Sustiva. But its biggest pharmaceutical product is Coumadin, a therapeutic drug used to prevent thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, with annual sales of $500 million.

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (1551)	3/10/1999 2:38:00 PM
From: Exacctnt	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2539

Anthony, From breifing.com. E.I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS (DD) 57 11/16 +4 1/8. Now that this global science and technology-based company has announced that it plans to "aggressively and rapidly build its life sciences portfolio," what does this mean for Monsanto Co. (MTC 46 7/8 +7/8)? While the two companies have shared discussions in the recent past about combining their respective life sciences operations, the merger and acquisition route appears not to be the preferred path that DuPont would like to follow. Instead, the company is seeking alliances with strategic partners which may prove to be to the liking of Monsanto since, in the past, deals have collapsed because MTC's Robert Shapiro has wanted more control over the course of the life sciences group. In fact, in the latest discussions that were reported last week by the New York Times, control seemed to a major stumbling block that would prevent these two companies from tying the knot, particularly given the valuation that was being placed on the deal. For the type of money that DuPont would pay for Monsanto in a buyout, in excess of $30 billion, it better have the rights to call the shots. But the driving factor to make a deal may be changing at this time which may work to the advantage of both companies and allow for a partnership to be formed, particularly now that DuPont is also keen on creating a "tracking" stock for its life sciences businesses. The recent success that Monsanto has enjoyed with its rheumatoid and arthritis Celebra drug could be an appealing factor for DuPont and one that would help get its tracking stock off on the right path. Regards, Bob