Monsanto Company (Press Release)

PBIC produces new and improved varieties of agricultural crops and markets them through a network of associated companies and agents worldwide. PBIC has established breeding programs for several crops, including winter wheat, barley, oilseed rape and potatoes. These efforts are aimed at developing crops that offer farmers higher yields, better quality, improved disease resistance and lower production costs. PBIC has principal operations in the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

Together, the companies will build on PBIC's tradition of developing high-quality seed varieties by combining PBIC's conventional breeding capabilities with Monsanto's expertise in advanced breeding techniques. This will result in the development and introduction of improved seed varieties for U.K. and European farmers. Additionally, PBIC and Monsanto's Hybri-Tech unit will be able to introduce new hybrid wheat varieties, also developed through conventional breeding, in the near future.

Longer-term plans include the possibility of improving key crops through biotechnology, including the development of plants that are resistant to the significant diseases and viruses that plague crops such as wheat throughout Europe. The first cereal crops incorporating improvements from biotechnology are not expected to be commercialized in Europe until after 2003.

Once the acquisition is complete, PBIC will remain at its current site in Cambridge. The company employs more than 280 people in Cambridge, at breeding facilities in Chartres, France, and Silstedt, Germany, and at a potato facility in Perth, Scotland. No job losses or redundancies are expected as a direct result of the acquisition.