St. Louis, Missouri
August 20, 2008
Monsanto Company (NYSE:
MON) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to
sell its POSILAC® bovine somatotropin brand and related business
to Eli Lilly and Company
(NYSE: LLY). Lilly's animal health division, Elanco,
headquartered in Greenfield, Indiana, is the seventh largest
animal health company on a global sales basis.
Under the terms of the agreement, Lilly will purchase assets and
liabilities of Monsanto associated with the POSILAC brand and
related business for an upfront payment of $300 million, plus
additional contingent consideration. The transaction will be
completed as soon as practical. Additional terms of the
agreement were not disclosed. Elanco has been marketing
recombinant bovine somatotropin for Monsanto over the last
decade outside the United States under a licensing agreement.
"We're pleased Elanco is acquiring this business and will
continue to provide dairy farmers with this important production
tool," said Carl Casale, Monsanto's Executive Vice-President of
Strategy and Operations. "Elanco is fully focused on animal
health and productivity and is committed to the importance of
POSILAC in both the domestic and the international marketplace."
POSILAC bovine somatotropin is an FDA-approved animal
pharmaceutical used by U.S. dairy farmers to increase
productivity. Since it was first sold in the United States in
1994, POSILAC has become the country's leading dairy animal
supplement. POSILAC safely increases productivity of dairy cows
thereby allowing family farm owners to more easily provide for
their family and employees, reinvest in their farms, and
conserve resources like land, water and energy. Over the past 14
years, more than a half billion units of POSILAC have been
successfully and safely used by tens of thousands of dairy
producers on millions of cows to produce wholesome, nutritious,
safe and affordable milk and dairy products.
Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of
technology-based solutions and agricultural products that
improve farm productivity and food quality.
POSILAC® is a registered trademark of Monsanto Company and its
wholly-owned subsidiaries. |
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