De Ruiter Seeds Customers Benefit From Sale of Company to Monsanto

Bergschenhoek, The Netherlands (ots/PRNewswire) -

- Accelerated Development of New Innovative Vegetable Seeds in
Protected Cultures

Vegetable seeds company De Ruiter Seeds has reached an agreement
regarding the sale of the company to Monsanto. With this acquisition
De Ruiter Seeds will become Monsanto's 'centre of excellence' for
vegetable seeds in protected cultures. De Ruiter Seeds will gain
access to Monsanto's world class technology and will maintain its
brand name and operational structure.

Biense Visser, Chief Executive Officer of De Ruiter Seeds, says
this is an important day for the future of the company. "We are
convinced the future of our company and our customers is best served
by the sale to Monsanto. Monsanto is a world leader in molecular and
breeding technologies. De Ruiter Seeds will gain access to Monsanto's
advanced technology and that will give us the opportunity to
accelerate the delivery of new and improved varieties of vegetable
seeds for protected cultures. Moreover, we can accelerate regional
expansion to Asia and South America."

For Kerry Preete, President of Monsanto's vegetable seeds
division, De Ruiter Seeds is first choice: "For many years now, De
Ruiter Seeds has held a leading position in breeding and producing
high quality seeds for protected crops: tomato, peppers, cucumbers
and melons. De Ruiter Seeds will become Monsanto's centre of
excellence for vegetable seeds in protected cultures. Upon completion
of the transaction, Monsanto's vegetable seed business will serve its
grower customers through three dedicated platforms. The De Ruiter
Seeds business will serve the protected-culture vegetable seed
market, Seminis will serve the open field vegetable seed market and
the International Seed Group, Inc. (ISG) subsidiary will serve
customers of its specific market segments.

Biense Visser will stay on as CEO of De Ruiter Seeds. "We will
maintain our operational structure and brand name. Monsanto's
interest in De Ruiter Seeds is therefore also a great compliment to
our organization and staff." De Ruiter Seeds was founded in 1945 as a
family business and grew to become a worldwide family of businesses
working close to its clients with over 900 employees in fifteen
countries. "The growth has been fantastic, however the competition is
very strong and the demands for investments are increasing every
year. Monsanto is willing to invest in our people and organization,
so we can strengthen our leading position in the high value,
protected culture market for vegetable seeds."

The existing operational structure, leadership team and staff of
De Ruiter Seeds will be kept in place to operate the business. The
know how, professionals and way of working of De Ruiter Seeds are
part of the success and therefore important to Monsanto. This
acquisition will strengthen De Ruiter Seeds and will accelerate the
development of new varieties with more innovative traits to always
better serve our customers and the industry

De Ruiter Seeds was advised by Evercore Partners, Allen & Overy
and PricewaterhouseCoopers in this transaction.

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 tomato, cucumber, eggplant, 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.

ots Originaltext: De Ruiter Seeds
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Contact Media: Marleen van Balkom, De Ruiter Seeds, +31-0-10-5292-674