Marysville, Ohio
February 18, 1999The Scotts Company (NYSE: SMG) today announced
that it has sold the assets of the former U.S. Home and Garden Products Business of AgrEvo
Environmental Health, Inc. ("U.S. Finale Business"), to Farnam Companies, Inc.
for an undisclosed sum.
Finale, a non-selective herbicide, is the major product of the U.S. Finale Business,
which also includes the Vikor® line of insect control products, Weed Warrior
selective herbicide and the InterCept - H&GÒ line of insecticide and fungicide
products.
As previously announced, Scotts expects the sale of the U.S. Finale Business to result in
a loss. Scotts believes it has adequately reserved for the loss on the asset sale in its
fourth quarter 1998 earnings.
Farnam Companies, Inc. is a privately held company based in
Phoenix, Arizona, that is a leader in animal healthcare and has a growing presence in
consumer lawn and garden products sold under the company name of Security Products, a
division of Farnam Companies, Inc.
The Scotts Company is the world's leading supplier of
consumer products for lawn and garden care, with a full range of products for
professional turf care and horticulture as well. The company owns what are by far
the industry's most recognized brands. In the U.S., consumer awareness of the company's
Scotts®, Miracle-Gro® and Ortho® brands outscores the nearest competitors in their
categories by several times, as does awareness of the consumer Roundup® brand which is
owned by Monsanto. Scotts has entered into an agreement with Monsanto to be the exclusive
marketing agent for consumer Roundup® worldwide. In the U.K., Scotts' brands include
Weedol® and Pathclear®, the top-selling consumer herbicides; Evergreen®, the leading
lawn fertilizer line; the Levington® line of lawn and garden products; and Miracle-Gro®,
the leading plant fertilizer. The Company's leading brands in continental Europe include
KB® and Fertiligène® in France and NexaLotte® and Celaflor® in ermany.
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