Monsanto Drops Planter Equipment Deal With Deere
02 May 2017 - 7:44AM
Dow Jones News
By Jacob Bunge
Seed giant Monsanto Co. terminated a deal to sell its high-tech
crop planter unit to equipment maker Deere & Co. following
pushback from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The two companies announced the deal in November 2015 along with
a data-sharing agreement that aimed to bolster Monsanto's digital
farming unit, the Climate Corp.
Antitrust officials feared the deal would suppress competition
for technology that allows farmers to plant crop seeds at high
speeds. The Justice Department sued to stop the deal last year.
Monsanto and Deere said then they would fight official resistance
that they called misguided.
Monsanto said Monday its Climate Corp. subsidiary still aims to
sell the planter unit. Climate Corp. has "spoken with several third
parties that have expressed interest in purchasing it," the company
said. Deere terminated the data-connectivity deal struck with
Monsanto's Climate unit in conjunction with the planned planter
purchase.
Write to Jacob Bunge at jacob.bunge@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 01, 2017 17:29 ET (21:29 GMT)
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