|
Monsanto may split up
|
 |
December 10, 1999: 10:37 a.m. ET
Report: life sciences company considers pharmaceutical unit spin-off
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Directors of Monsanto Co. planned to discuss Friday whether to separate the company’s booming pharmaceutical business from its struggling agriculture unit, according to a published report.
Speculation has mounted in recent months that the life sciences company is considering splitting off its Searle pharmaceutical business amid intensifying investor pressure. The Wall Street Journal reported that the board of the St. Louis-based company was not likely to announce a decision Friday, but that the board could make an announcement in the next few days.
Some Monsanto (MTC) officials still hope that a wealthy merger partner might emerge for the whole company, which continues to talk with at least one other party about a possible deal, the Journal said.
Monsanto spokeswoman Lori Fisher told CNNfn that the board was holding a regularly scheduled meeting Friday, but she would not discuss the meeting’s agenda.
Monsanto stock rose 1-1/2 to 43-3/4 Friday morning.
Several potential merger partners for Monsanto have slipped away recently, the newspaper said, including Dupont and most recently Novartis AG. Talks with Novartis broke down in November over price, and the two companies are not holding talks now, the report said, quoting a person with knowledge of the situation.
Monsanto’s agriculture business had sales of about $4 billion while its pharmaceuticals operation had sales of $2.7 billion in the first nine months of the year, the report said.
Monsanto’s Searle unit manufactures the hot-selling Celebrex arthritis drug, which it co-markets with Pfizer Inc (PFE). The drug has brought in an estimated $1 billion in total revenue since its January 1999 launch. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Monsanto
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney
|
|
|
|
 |
|
