Agco to Acquire Precision Planting From Monsanto
July 26 2017 - 12:31PM
Dow Jones News
By Bob Tita and Jacob Bunge
Farm equipment manufacturer Agco Corp. will acquire a line of
high-tech planting equipment from Monsanto Co. after the seed
company abandoned plans to sell the unit to Deere & Co. under
pressure from the Justice Department.
Agco said Wednesday that Precision Planting LLC will strengthen
its equipment offerings for large farmers. The Georgia-based maker
of Massey Ferguson equipment didn't disclose terms of its deal to
buy Precision.
The Justice Department last year sued to block Deere's
acquisition of Precision on the grounds that the deal would
suppress competition for seed-planting technology.
Deere, the leading supplier of farm machinery in the U.S., has
its own high-speed seeding technology, which it is installing on
new planting equipment and selling in retrofit kits.
Monsanto agreed to sell Deere the unit's planting equipment
operations in 2015, while Deere agreed to make it easier for
farmers to link their John Deere machinery to Monsanto's data
services. That deal was worth an estimated $190 million.
Precision has developed technology that allows farmers to plant
seeds accurately at up to twice the speed of conventional planting
systems, which can increase growing seasons and crop yields. The
equipment can be retrofitted on planting machines, and is being
installed on new planters built by other companies.
Write to Bob Tita at robert.tita@wsj.com and Jacob Bunge at
jacob.bunge@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 26, 2017 12:16 ET (16:16 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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