Monsanto

Monsanto Co. says a California appeals court ruled it is not required to pay Mycogen Corp. $175 million in damages in a licensing dispute over technology for pest-resistant crops. The state Court of Appeals found that jurors improperly awarded the damages to Mycogen, a San Diego-based unit of Dow Chemical Co. that develops, manufactures and markets biopesticides and alternatives to chemical pesticides, Monsanto said in a release. Monsanto is a unit of Peapack, N.J.-based Pharmacia Corp.

Monsanto Co. said Tuesday that it has completed "a working draft" of the genetic code of the rice plant--paving the way for improved nutrition, crop yields and drought tolerance, traits needed to feed a growing world population. It is the first plant genome to reach this advanced stage of completion, and scientists say it is especially significant because almost half of the world's people, most of them in Asia, depend on rice as the main staple in their diet.

Monsanto Co. is selling its sweetener-ingredient business, which includes a NutraSweet brand name, to a Boston-based investment firm for $440 million. St. Louis-based Monsanto said it signed an agreement to sell the unit to J.W. Childs Equity Partners II. It said Childs has agreed to retain all employees in the sweetener-ingredient unit. Monsanto also announced the sale of its interests in two European joint ventures, NutraSweet and Euro-Aspartame.

Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc. and Monsanto Co., which will complete a $31-billion merger this year, posted strong fourth-quarter profits on increased sales of drugs for arthritis, incontinence and glaucoma. Monsanto had profit from continuing operations of $46 million, or 7 cents a share, on strong sales of the arthritis painkiller Celebrex, following a year-earlier loss.

An investment group that includes Dell Computer Corp. Chairman Michael Dell agreed to buy Monsanto Co.'s NutraSweet and Equal artificial sweetener business for $570 million. The group, Tabletop Acquisition Corp., includes MSD Capital, an investment fund that holds Dell's personal investments, and Greenwich, Conn.-based investment firm Pegasus Capital Advisors. Monsanto said no jobs would be cut at the Chicago-based sweetener business, which employs 500. Monsanto, which has agreed to a $30.

Delta & Pine Land Co. said that its would-be merger partner Monsanto Co. paid it an $81-million termination fee and lifted a restriction on the cotton seed company's talking to potential suitors. Monsanto, which had agreed to buy Delta in a deal valued at $1.9 billion when it was first announced in May 1998, withdrew a regulatory filing relating to the acquisition, citing delays in the review and demands by the Justice Department.

Delta & Pine Land Co., the leading U.S. cottonseed producer, said Monsanto Co. owed it $81 million for terminating a $1.3-billion acquisition bid and threatened legal action to protect its shareholders. Monsanto announced its decision a day after it agreed to merge with Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc. in a $23.3-billion stock transaction. The St.

The planned merger of Monsanto Co. and Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc. rattled investors, as shareholders thought both U.S. pharmaceutical companies could have made a better deal. But analysts said the companies are making the right move to sustain their long-term growth. Monsanto's products include the blockbuster arthritis treatment Celebrex, farm chemicals and genetically engineered seeds. Pharmacia's major products are the contraceptive Depo-Provera and the over-the-counter hair-growth gel Rogaine.

Monsanto Co. and rival drug maker Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc. on Sunday agreed to merge in a $26.5-billion stock transaction and sell off part of the agriculture business that helped drag Monsanto's share price down 12% this year. Monsanto stockholders will exchange each of their shares for a share of the combined company in the transaction, described as a merger of equals without a premium for shareholders. Pharmacia shareholders will receive 1.19 shares for each of their shares, a 1.

Monsanto Co., continuing its search for a buyer, is talking to Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc. about a merger that would create a drug company with products ranging from arthritis pain relievers to smoking-cessation gum, a person familiar with the situation said Friday. The two companies are still far apart on key issues, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity.