evil Monsanto one step closer to taking over all of nature

[soothsayer]

Monsanto to Buy Seed Company for $1 Bln

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Reuters) - Agriculture products company Monsanto Co. (MON) on Monday said it will buy vegetable and fruit seed company Seminis Inc. for about $1 billion from a private equity firm to capitalize on the trend toward healthier eating and enhance its seed portfolio.

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Monsanto, a leading developer of genetic modifications for crops like soybeans and corn, said biotechnology modifications to Seminis' fruits and vegetable lines were an option over the long term.

Seminis, which supplies more than 3,500 seed varieties to commercial fruit and vegetable growers, dealers, distributors and wholesalers, currently offers a genetically modified squash, according to Monsanto.

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Monsanto Chairman Hugh Grant said in a statement that Seminis was "uniquely positioned" to capitalize on a growing trend toward healthier diets.

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Monsanto has been shifting its business focus from the highly competitive herbicide chemical business to the seed industry, where it has been seeing strong growth.


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Monsanto already controls an estimated 14 percent of the U.S. corn seed market and through licensing arrangements provides germplasm and technology traits that extend its influence into about one-third of the U.S. market.

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