(April 16, 2004)  International law firm Reed Smith LLP (together with leading French law firm Rambaud-Martel) advised RAGT Genetique SA, on a substantial business acquisition from Monsanto. The acquisition comprised Monsanto’s European wheat and barley business, which is being divested as part of a global restructuring at the agriculture biotechnology company.

The negotiation and execution of the acquisition, reported to be worth $25 million pre-tax to Monsanto, made use of Reed Smith’s and Rambaud Martel’s expertise across a range of disciplines. The deal involved assets and over 100 staff in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Republic of Czechoslovakia.

Jeff Rodwell, lead Partner on the deal at Reed Smith, comments:

"This was a very interesting deal from several perspectives: the parties (with a French acquirer of European assets from a US company); the deal structure with tight deadlines in a competitive environment; and the subject matter of the acquisition (plant variety rights and associated intellectual property and know-how). We worked closely with RAGT's French lawyers, leading French firm Rambaud Martel, on all aspects of the transaction, and two of their partners Michel Jockey and Pierre-Gilles Wogue were actively involved in the negotiations.

The Reed Smith team included members of Reed Smith’s French team and specialist practitioners from various departments within the firm: Corporate (David Heard, Peter Alfandary, Sakil Suleman), Technology and IP (Jeff Rodwell), Employment (Mark Hunt, Shireen Shaikh), Pensions (Michael Calvert), Tax (Charles Elphicke, Fiona Aikman), Competition (Edward Miller, Jennifer O’Brien) and Property / Environmental (Richard Chalkley, Richard Perkins).