Monsanto Offers to Buy Rest of Calgene

Monsanto Co. said it has offered to acquire the share of Calgene Inc. it doesn’t already own for about $217 million, or $7.25 a share. Monsanto, a St. Louis-based agricultural, pharmaceutical and food ingredients company, owns 54.6% of the outstanding shares of the Davis-based biotechnology company. Calgene has about 66.25 million shares, and the offer for the remaining shares would amount to just over $217 million. The proposal is subject to the approval of a special committee of the disinterested Calgene directors. A Calgene spokesman was not immediately available to comment. Monsanto shares rose $1.25 to close at $37.875 on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading of Calgene shares was halted after they closed at $5.50 on Nasdaq.