DuPont, Bunge Form Global Alliance

ST. LOUIS--DuPont and Bunge Ltd. announced plans to form a global alliance, including launching a joint venture for specialty food ingredients and a biotechnology agreement. The joint venture--Solae LLC--will consist of DuPont's Protein Technologies food ingredients business and Bunge's specialty food ingredients business; Bunge recently closed its acquisition of Cereol S.A., including the Central Soya business in North America. DuPont will hold majority interest in St. Louis-based Solae, while Bunge will receive a 28-percent interest plus $260 million cash. Global revenues of Solae are expected to exceed $800 million annually.

Solae is the consumer brand name for DuPont Protein Technologies' soy ingredients, which include soy protein and soy isolates. The expanded Solae portfolio will include textured vegetable proteins, soy concentrates and isolates, and specialty lecithins. The DuPont/Bunge alliance positions Solae to compete in the increasingly competitive soy ingredient market, which includes Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill.

J. Erik Frywald, vice president and general manager of DuPont Nutrition & Health, will be chairman of Solae and Stephen B. Tanda, president of DuPont Protein Technologies, will be chief executive officer. From Bunge, Drew Burke, managing director of ingredients and new business development, will be vice chairman of Solae and Theodore P. Fox III, controller, will be chief financial officer.

The biotechnology agreement will combine DuPont's strengths in science with Bunge's strength through the value chain; the companies will initially focus on soybeans. A third part of the global alliance includes working together on providing products and services to farmers, with initial efforts in South America and Asia.

Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont (www.dupont.com) posted 2001 annual sales of more than $4.3 billion across industries including agriculture, transportation, electronics, home and construction. Bunge Ltd. (www.bunge.com) is headquartered in White Plains, N.Y., and is the world's leading oilseed processing company; it will report 2002 fiscal results in February, but net income for the year was expected to be approximately $220 million.