Following the global announcement earlier today of the creation of the Aventis S.A. life sciences company, Aventis CropScience in North America was launched as a company with a broad array of agricultural products and technologies aimed at providing crop solutions for the North American grower.

Combining Rhone-Poulenc Ag Company and AgrEvo, Aventis CropScience is poised to meet the needs of growers in the United States and Canada and the challenges they face.

Aventis CropScience products include well-established product names as well as a newer range of herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and plant growth regulators/defoliants in important crop markets that include corn, cotton, cereals, canola and horticultural crops.

With a strong presence in these crop areas, Aventis is expected to become increasingly important to corn growers with products and technology ideally suited to that important U.S. and Canadian crop market segment.

Combining familiar names that include TILLER, TEMIK, BUCTRIL, PREP, DECIS, HOELON,
BETAMIX, ROVRAL, MOCAP and NORTRON, Aventis CropScience also offers new or emerging
product names such as LIBERTY, BALANCE, COVERGE, PUMA AND REGENT.

In addition, the Aventis business in biotechnology and seed is quickly expanding in corn, cotton, canola and soon in rice with flagship products like LIBERTYLINK, INVIGOR, FIBERMAX, STARLINK and the BXN System. These products and technologies offer a range of important tools for the grower in the areas of high-yielding hybrid seed, value added seed, innovative crop protection products and biotechnology advancements.

"Our objective is to bring to the North American farmer the innovative and effective products that are solutions to the challenges he faces -- and in the process, create an effective partnership with him,'' said Maurice Delage, president of Aventis CropScience in North America.

In addition to its products and people, Aventis CropScience in North America also has six production sites in the following locations: Charleston, West Virginia; Muskegon, Michigan; Mt. Pleasant, Tennessee; Regina, Saskatchewan; St. Louis, Missouri; and Woodbine, Georgia. Aventis also has a facility in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, which is engaged in biotechnology research, plant breeding and seed product research.

The Aventis CropScience North American and U.S. headquarters is located in a 550-person administrative and research facility here which previously served as the North American headquarters for Rhone-Poulenc Ag. The company's Canadian headquarters is in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Although the name is new, Aventis brings together the experience of both companies in research of traditional and biotechnology solutions to the challenges faced by growers from insects, weeds and disease.

At the same time while dedicated to creating a culture that fosters new ideas and innovative thinking, the 2,650 men and women in Aventis CropScience in North America also are committed to preserving and protecting the environment, according to Delage. This commitment to responsible, sustainable farming by offering a variety of agronomic options also includes a commitment by Aventis CropScience to the safe and responsible use of its products.

The North American business unit is a subsidiary Aventis CropScience, the worldwide leader in crop protection products and technology, based in Lyon, France. The Aventis parent company was formed today by the completed business combination of Rhone-Poulenc S.A. (NYSE: RP - news) and Hoechst AG, creating a global life sciences company with products that protect, maintain and improve the health and well-being of humans, animals and plants.

Aventis begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 20. Aventis was created through an exchange offer by Rhone-Poulenc for all of the shares of Hoechst AG, AgrEvo's parent
company, in which more than 96 percent of Hoechst's share were tendered for shares in Aventis. Hoechst shareholders will receive one Aventis share for every 1.333 Hoechst shares tendered. Rhone-Poulenc shares have become shares in Aventis.

Company news release
N2313