By the mid 1990s Monsanto realized that in order to capture the value from its biotech
products it had to have a way to deliver the product to the farmer and capture
the value that had been added. The delivery mechanism was the seeds, as the
genetically modified seed contained the traits that were of additional value to the
customersviii. By the second half of the 1990s Monsanto began acquiring seed
companies and establishing alliances in this industry. By 1999, Monsanto had spent
$8 billion in acquisitions and joint ventures, with $3.5 billion in acquisitions just
since 1996ix. Monsanto was very active in the merger and acquisition trend in the
agriculture industry (Exhibit 12).