ST. LOUIS, June 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) announced today that it has completed its proposed acquisition of De Ruiter Seeds Group B.V., a Dutch-holding company that owns and operates De Ruiter Seeds, for Euro 546 million in cash, or approximately $850 million at current exchange rates, less net debt.

Monsanto will start to transition the De Ruiter Seeds business into its vegetable seeds division alongside its other business units, Seminis and the International Seed Group, Inc. (ISG). Monsanto's vegetable seed business will serve its customers through three dedicated platforms: protected-culture, open field and regional vegetable seed businesses. The De Ruiter Seeds business will serve the protected-culture vegetable seed market, Seminis will serve the open-field vegetable seed market, and ISG will serve customers of regional seed businesses. Until the transition is complete, business units will continue to conduct business as usual.

"We look forward to working with the people at De Ruiter Seeds and identifying new opportunities for us to combine our strengths to deliver new innovations to growers and customers," said Consuelo Madere, the Monsanto vegetable seed lead.

Biense Visser, De Ruiter Seeds president and chief executive officer, said he is also looking forward to the future.

"We are convinced that the future of our company is best with Monsanto because of their world class technology and the strategic opportunities for our company," said Visser. "It will allow us to strengthen our product leadership strategy."

About Monsanto Company

Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. For more information, please visit the company's web site at http://www.monsanto.com/.

About De Ruiter Seeds

De Ruiter Seeds breeds, produces and sells hybrid vegetable seeds for top vegetable products such as tomato, cucumber, aubergine, pepper, melon and rootstock. De Ruiter Seeds is one of the top breeding companies in the world. For more information, please visit the company's web site at http://www.deruiterseeds.com/.

SOURCE: Monsanto Company

CONTACT: Media, Marleen van Balkom of De Ruiter Seeds,
+31-0-10-5292-674; or Mica Veihman, +1-314-694-2992, or analysts, Analysts,
Scarlett Lee Foster, +1-314-694-8148, both of Monsanto Company

Web site: http://www.monsanto.com/
http://www.deruiterseeds.com/

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/114341.html