Novartis Seeds today announced that it has signed an agreement to purchase American Sunmelon, the American leader in the seedless watermelon seed business. The deal is expected to be completed by mid-September, subject to regulatory approval. Financial terms were not disclosed.

John Sorenson, President of Novartis Seeds, Inc. - Vegetables, commented, "The acquisition of American Sunmelon provides an excellent strategic fit with our existing Rogers and S&G brand watermelon business. We have a strong product line in the seeded watermelon seed business for North and Central America and Europe. The addition of American Sunmelon's product line and genetic base will give us an equally strong presence in the seedless watermelon arena, both in North America and abroad."

Carl Cadregari, President of American Sunmelon remarked, "This acquisition by Novartis Seeds will add even more value to American Sunrrielon's present relationship with its customers, plus the combined research programs will allow Novartis Seeds to serve triploid watermelon growers in markets not presently served by American Sunmelon.

Additionally, according to Tim Shaheen, President of Sun World International, Inc. and current partner in America Sunmelon, "Novartis Seeds' expanded presence in the watermelon category will add even more value to America Sunmelon's exciting product line. We see great opportunity for increased synergies with Novartis Seeds in production, promotion and consumption of seedless watermelon - here and abroad."

Watermelon is an important global crop, with sales reaching 5% of the worldwide vegetable seed business.

American Sunmelon is an Oklahoma City-based partnership between American Seedless Corporation, a group of private investors, and Sun World Brands, wholly owned by Sun World International, Inc., a leading California-based grower and marketer of fresh produce. American Sunmelon has a strong presence in the United States, Europe and Australia. Sun World and its associated growers throughout the United States are credited with introducing seedless watermelon to American consumers in the late 1980's, and with popularizing the new fruit through year-round production and dynamic promotional activity.

Novartis Seeds, Inc. - Vegetables is a leading U.S. agriculture and research company that develops value-added genetics, and produces and markets vegetable and melon seed under the Rogers brand. It is affiliated with Novartis Seeds AG, a world-wide seed company, and part of Novartis, a world leader in Life Sciences with core business in Healthcare, Agribusiness and Nutrition. In 1997, Novartis Group sales were 21.6 billion dollars, of which 13.0 billion were in Healthcare, 5.8 billion in Agribusiness and 2.8 billion in Nutrition. The group annually invests more than 2.5 billion dollars in R&D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis employs about 87,000 people and operates in over 100 countries around the world.

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