At least seven US state attorneys general are investigating whether Monsanto Company has abused its market power to lock out competitors and raise prices on seed. Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, and two other unidentified states are in a working group to investigate the biotech giant.And Monsanto’s stock price is down more than 30%, from $93.35 in May to a 52 week low of $63.75 Friday.The states are probing whether Monsanto violated laws by offering rebates to seed distributors for excluding rival seeds, imposing limits on combining the product with other genetic modifications, or offering cash incentives to switch farmers to more expensive generation of seed varieties.
The state investigations add to pressure on Monsanto. The US Justice Department is investigating the company’s marketing practices, and DuPont Company has accused Monsanto of anti-competitive practices in licensing litigation.
Interesting developments.
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Their stock price is declining? B-but Forbes told me they were company of the year!
Yeah, that was recent, too, in January:
http://riskman.typepad.com/canopy_roads/2010/01/forbes-all-monsanto-needs-is-better-pr.html
And only a month or so ago somebody took me to task for saying MON was declining….