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

To: Exacctnt who wrote (1595)	3/12/1999 6:11:00 PM
From: David Winkler	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 2539

In DC area Tylenol has a big campaign against Celebrex. Any idea if this is a regional buy or nationwide?

To: Exacctnt who wrote (1595)	3/12/1999 6:56:00 PM
From: coyote	Respond to of 2539

If they are really pissed they should short a ton of Pioneer and then buy MTC

To: Exacctnt who wrote (1595)	3/12/1999 9:52:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 2539

Pioneer Hi-Bred, DuPont in Talks; Pioneer Shares Jump (Update5) Bloomberg News March 12, 1999, 4:19 p.m. ET Pioneer Hi-Bred, DuPont in Talks; Pioneer Shares Jump (Update5) (Updates with closing share activity.) Des Moines, Iowa, March 12 (Bloomberg) -- Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. and DuPont Co. said they're in talks about a combination, which could expand their alliance beyond DuPont's 20 percent stake in the world's largest seed-corn company. Pioneer Hi-Bred shares surged 9 13/16, or 40 percent, to 34 5/16. DuPont fell 3/8 to 57 3/4. DuPont, the biggest U.S. chemical company, paid $1.7 billion in 1997 for its interest in Pioneer. Based on Pioneer's current share price, it could cost DuPont about $6 billion to buy the rest of the Des Moines, Iowa-based company. Earlier this week, DuPont renewed its drive to expand its life science businesses, such as drugs and agricultural products, when it announced it will form alliances and issue a separate class of life sciences stock. Meanwhile, Pioneer may need help, because its shares sagged recently as seed prices fell. ''The next announcement will probably be either that the companies agree to merge or the companies break up talks altogether,'' said Tom Burnett, research director of Merger Insight, which tracks mergers and acquisitions. Burnett said Pioneer would fetch at least $40 a share. The companies are currently in a biotechnology venture called Optimum Quality Grains. Monsanto DuPont has been losing market share in its agricultural unit to Monsanto Co.'s Roundup herbicide, which can be sprayed over a growing crop if farmers use genetically altered Roundup-Ready seeds. Competition from Roundup helped cause a 29 percent decline in DuPont's fourth-quarter earnings from agricultural products. Last week a person close to Monsanto who's familiar with the matter said the company was in preliminary talks with Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont about a business combination. One possibility mentioned by analysts last week would be for DuPont to merge its agricultural business with Monsanto. That could set up antitrust concerns for DuPont, though, meaning it might have to sell its stake in Pioneer Hi-Bred, said Jim Wilbur, an analyst with Salomon Smith Barney. ''There's a lot of things going on here and Pioneer may not be the end of the story, so I think it's gotten people excited that something's finally happening in DuPont's life sciences,'' said Thom Brown, a portfolio manager at Rutherford, Brown & Catherwood, which owns DuPont shares. DuPont's tracking-stock plan comes about a year after the company said it would increase its focus on life sciences, which are generally faster growing than its traditional chemicals businesses. The new class of shares could be used as currency in mergers and joint ventures. No Assurances There are no assurances any transaction will occur between DuPont and Pioneer, the companies said in a statement. Pioneer's agreement with DuPont includes a standstill provision that prohibits DuPont from increasing its ownership without Pioneer's consent, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Pioneer Hi-Bred declined to comment on the standstill provision. Pioneer Hi-Bred generated $1.8 billion in sales last year from corn, soybean and other hybrid seeds. The company's shares fell 28 percent in the past year as a sagging farm economy drove down seed prices. Still, some analysts said Pioneer could help DuPont expand its agricultural business. Pioneer is attractive to DuPont or anyone else trying to reach farmers because of its marketing network, said Frederic Russell of Frederic E. Russell Investment Co., in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which owns about 90,000 Pioneer shares. ''The stock price has succumbed to low commodity prices, but that probably won't last,'' said Frederic Russell. ''It's a very strategic time for DuPont to be in talks because it's relatively cheap right now.'' --Joe Richter in the Princeton newsroom (609) 279-4027/gfh