Merger Partners will call Combined Drug Company
Pharmacia Corp.
January 27, 2000
NEW YORK (CNN) - Monsanto Co. and Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc.
announced Thursday that Pharmacia Corp. will be the name of
their merged company upon completion of their $26.6 billion merger announced last month.
'Pharmacia' captures the focus of the new organization as
an exceptionally fast-growing core pharmaceuticals business in
the top tier of the industry," Pharmacia & Upjohn CEO Fred
Hassan said, who will head the combined company.
The names Pharmacia, Upjohn and Searle, the name of
Monsanto's pharmaceutical division, will be used for different
sales divisions of the new company
As part of the deal, which is expected to close by the summer, the companies agreed
to partially spin off Monsanto's agricultural division. The new,
separately traded unit, which produces the top-selling weed
killer Roundup, as well as genetically altered corn and soybean
seeds, will be called Monsanto.
Monsanto's Searle division produces the blockbuster
painkiller Celebrex. Pharmacia & Upjohn's pharmaceutical
products include growth hormone Genotropin, glaucoma treatment
Xalatan and the incontinence pill Detrol.
Pharmacia is based in Peapack, N.J. and Monsanto has headquarters in St. Louis.
On Thursday, Monsanto stock closed at 35-13/16, up 5/16, while Pharmacia Á Upjohn shares closed at 48-11/16, down 1/8.