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Associated Press Friday July 2 Monsanto To Sell Sweetener Business By JIM SALTER Monsanto Co., seeking to reduce debt and focus strictly on life science products, is getting out of the artificial sweetener business. The search for a buyer or buyers of the company's tabletop sweeteners, which include the best-selling NutraSweet brand, begins immediately and will be completed as quickly as possible, Monsanto spokeswoman Scarlett Lee Foster said Thursday. Officials with the St. Louis-based pharmaceutical and agricultural products company also announced plans Thursday to sell off the biogum division. Earlier this year, Monsanto said it would sell its algins food ingredients business. Biogums and algins are used mainly to improve the texture and processing of foods. Together, the artificial sweetener, algins and biogum businesses had sales of $1 billion last year. Proceeds from the divestitures will be used to reduce the company's debt. Monsanto discovered aspartame, used to make NutraSweet, which is 200 to 400 times sweeter than sugar and has just a trace of calories. Nutrasweet hit the market in 1981. The sale of the artificial sweeteners business had been expected for some time. ``NutraSweet is very profitable, but the bulk of its growth is behind it,'' said analyst William Fiala of Edward Jones in St. Louis. ``It was really driven by the rapid growth of the diet soda market, and that has really started to taper off.'' Foster said Monsanto does not release specific sales figures for NutraSweet, but noted that it remains the world's best-selling artificial sweetener. ``It's been an outstanding product,'' she said. ``It's just a shift in focus for us.'' Last year, Monsanto said it planned to sell all divisions that aren't directly related to the company's agricultural or pharmaceutical business, which together are called the life sciences. Among Monsanto's best sellers is its arthritis drug Celebrex. Monsanto also announced several organizational changes Thursday. Hendrik A. Verfaillie, 53, was named chief operating officer and will continue as Monsanto president. |
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