The approval follows the agreement of AstraZeneca to divest globally its acetochlor herbicide products to Dow Agrosciences LLC and the agreement of Novartis to divest its fungicide Flint to Bayer.

The transaction will now complete as planned on 13 November, 2000.

Zeneca Agrochemicals is the crop protection and plant science business of AstraZeneca. It is the fourth largest supplier to this international market, with sales in 1999 of USD 2.7 billion in more than 130 countries. AstraZeneca (Registered Office, London) is a leading international pharmaceuticals and bioscience group with 1999 pro forma sales of USD 18.5 billion.

Novartis (NYSE: NVS) is a world leader in healthcare with core businesses in pharmaceuticals, consumer health, generics, eye-care, and animal health. In 1999, the Group (including Agribusiness) achieved sales of CHF 32.5 billion (USD 21.6 billion) and invested more than CHF 4.2 billion (USD 2.8 billion) in R&D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis employs about 82,500 people and operates in over 140 countries around the world.