Pfizer will sell research center to Monsanto

In a press release statement, Monsanto and Pfizer announced that they have entered into an agreement for Monsanto to acquire Pfizer''s Chesterfield Village Research Center located in Chesterfield, Mo. Under the terms of the agreement, Monsanto will acquire the property from Pfizer for $435 million to be paid over time, and Pfizer will continue to have operations at Chesterfield Village through a lease agreement, primarily performing Biotherapeutic Pharmaceutical research. The research center comprises 1.3 million-square-feet and includes approximately 250 laboratories, 122 plant growth chambers and 2 acres of greenhouse. Monsanto has leased more than 400,000 square feet of the property from Pfizer, and more than 400 Monsanto employees and contractors work on site, most of whom are researchers. Monsanto expects the site to continue to support its pipeline, which is focused on increasing agricultural productivity such as drought-tolerant corn and higher-yielding soybeans, and will enable the company to reach its goal of doubling yields in its core crops by 2030. The companies expect to complete the transaction in the first half of 2010.