DuPont Picks Up Pioneer

Applied Genetics News, April, 1999

DuPont (1007 Market St., Wilmington, DE 19898; Tel: 302/774-1000, Fax: 302/773-2631) and Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. (800 Capital Sq., 400 Locust, Des Moines, IA 50309; Tel: 515/248-4800, Fax: 515/248-4999) have signed a definitive agreement for a stock and cash merger resulting in DuPont's complete ownership of Pioneer.

Currently, DuPont is a 20% owner of the seed company, the largest in the world. Boards of directors of both companies have approved the transaction. Under terms of the agreement, Pioneer shareholders will receive $40 per share, 45% in cash and 55% in DuPont stock. Pioneer shareholders will have rights to elect which form of consideration they receive. The total equity value of the transaction is estimated at $7.7 billion and is expected to close in the summer of 1999. "By bringing together DuPont's ag businesses and Pioneer's seed business, we are creating an agricultural enterprise with $5 billion in annual sales, which will be focused on growth." says Charles O. Holliday, Jr., DuPont chair and CEO. "Crop genetics offers tremendous potential for meeting the needs of farmers, agriculture, and consumers around the world," says Charles S. Johnson, who will continue to be Pioneer's chair, president and CEO. "Bringing the talents and resources of our two companies more closely together will ensure we deliver that potential to the market and do it quickly." Pioneer will continue to do business under the Pioneer name and will remain headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. DuPont's board has authorized actions toward the creation and issuance of a "tracking" stock for its life science businesses.