By AP/KWMU
St. Louis, MO – St. Louis-based agri-business giant Monsanto announced this morning (Tuesday) it will buy a cotton seed company in Mississippi for $1.5 billion.
Delta and Pine Land Company commercially breeds cotton seeds and develops different varieties of cotton to be planted.
Monsanto's purchase is a cash deal that still needs shareholder and federal approval. If approved, it would mark the merging of two of the world's largest seed companies.
The deal comes eight years after Monsanto first announced plans to buy Mississippi-based Delta. Monsanto backed out of that deal, prompting a legal dispute that continued up until the new merger.
Directors for both companies already have approved the merger. Delta and Pine Land operates the largest and longest-running private cotton seed breeding program in the world. St. Louis-based Monsanto is one of the world's largest agricultural products companies and makes Roundup, the world's best-selling herbicide.