DuPont to Acquire Seed Producer

In a move that could dramatically enhance the role genetics play in world food production, chemical giant DuPont Co. said Monday it would buy leading seed producer Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. in a $7.7-billion deal.

The two companies signed a definitive agreement calling for a cash-and-stock merger that would give DuPont a new wholly owned unit with $5 billion in annual sales and a global marketing force devoted to the most fundamental of all agricultural products--seeds. DuPont already owned 20% of Pioneer, which it acquired in 1997.

The deal would give DuPont scientists, who have made great strides in using genetics to alter the nutritional makeup of corn and soybeans, ready access to Pioneer’s huge seed bank for new-generation products.

Des Moines-based Pioneer controls about 42% of the seed market for hybrid corn, the biggest U.S. crop.

Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont will pay Pioneer stockholders $40 a share.

Pioneer stock rose $4.06, or nearly 13%, in heavy trading on the New York Stock Exchange to close at $38.38 a share after Monday’s announcement. DuPont slipped $1.50 to $56.25.