Monsanto Company said today that a lawsuit filed by Delta and Pine Land Compay, alleging that Monsanto breached the merger agreement between the two companies, is without merit. The lawsuit -- filed in Mississippi State Court -- alleges that Monsanto did not exercise commercially reasonable efforts to obtain regulatory approval of the proposed merger.

"For a year and a half, we exercised every reasonable effort and a tremendous amount of time,
energy and money to make this merger happen,'' said Monsanto President Hendrik A. Verfaillie.
"After numerous attempts to reach an acceptable compromise with the Department of Justice, we
concluded that the Department's demands made no sense from a business point of view, and that to accept them would place both Monsanto and Delta and Pine Land at an unfair competitive
disadvantage in the marketplace.''

The company said it complied with all of its obligations under the merger agreement and that it will defend the lawsuit vigorously.

"It's disappointing that Delta & Pine Land -- a technology partner we've worked with for years --
would file this suit when they worked side-by-side with us in attempting to secure regulatory
approval of the merger,'' Verfaillie added.

Monsanto's research in cotton will not be adversely affected by the failed merger with Delta & Pine Land or the lawsuit.

"We remain committed to our cotton business, and to providing our biotech traits to cotton farmers in the seed varieties they prefer, through the broad licensing of our technology to various cotton seed companies,'' Verfaillie said. 

Company news release
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