Monsanto Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Hugh Grant said today that the company is fully prepared to manage potential liabilities that may come to it as a result of Solutia Inc.’s filing for reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

“Given our contractual obligations to Pharmacia related to Solutia, we have been closely monitoring this situation. We are familiar with the major areas of potential liability, and we’ve developed plans to deal with these possibilities,” Grant said. “We remain focused on our primary business – agriculture – and on running our business to maximize value for our customers and shareowners.”

Solutia was formed in September 1997 when Pharmacia (now a subsidiary of Pfizer), then known as the former Monsanto Company, spun it off as an independent entity. When present-day Monsanto was established in 2000, it agreed to indemnify Pharmacia for certain liabilities assumed by Solutia at their spinoff to the extent that Solutia fails to pay, perform or discharge those liabilities.

“We recognize our indemnification obligations; however, we do not intend to take on any obligations that are not our responsibility during this process, ” said Terry Crews, Monsanto’s chief financial officer. “We will make decisions at the appropriate time that are in the best interest of our shareowners, employees, customers and bondholders throughout these proceedings.”

The major categories of potential liability stemming from Solutia’s decision to file for bankruptcy protection include: certain post-retirement benefit costs, environmental remediation expenses, and costs associated with litigation. For additional information on these potential liabilities, see the related backgrounder, “Major Categories of Potential Liability Regarding Solutia’s Chapter 11 Filing.”

Monsanto will host a brief conference call at 8 a.m. central/9 a.m. eastern today to discuss its position regarding Solutia’s Chapter 11 filing. A simultaneous audio web cast of this call may be accessed by visiting the company’s web site at www.monsanto.com and clicking on “Investor Information.” Visitors may need to download Windows Media Player^TM prior to listening to the web cast. Following the live broadcast, a replay of the web cast will be available on the Monsanto web site for two weeks.

Monsanto Company, which was created in 2000, is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality.

Monsanto backgrounder: Major Categories of Potential Liability Regarding Solutia’s Chapter 11 Filing (.pdf 98K)