Monsanto, American Home Products separate at the altar

Monsanto's planned merger with American Home Products (AHP) has been cancelled. In June 1998, the two companies announced a merger that would create a $22-billion entity that has both Monsanto's new product pipeline and AHP's financial resources to develop biotechnology, agricultural and pharmaceutical products. Monsanto and AHP stated that they have decided to call off the marriage because it would not be beneficial to their respective shareholders. Analysts suspect that the merger was cancelled because of the failure of the two companies to agree on which direction the new company should take, coupled with personality differences between AHP CEO John R. Stafford and Monsanto CEO Robert B. Shapiro.