Disposal

AstraZeneca PLC
19 June 2000


Zeneca to Seek Divestment of its Worldwide Acetochlor Business


Zeneca Agrochemicals plans to divest its worldwide acetochlor corn herbicide
business, comprising all straight acetochlor products and all acetochlor and
atrazine mixtures, to address the concerns of the US Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) and the European Commission (EC) in connection with the proposed
formation of Syngenta.  As announced on December 2, 1999, Syngenta AG will be
formed from the planned spin-off and merger of Zeneca Agrochemicals, the crop
protection business of AstraZeneca, and Novartis' crop protection and seeds
businesses.

Zeneca Agrochemicals currently has a strong presence with its acetochlor
products in the United States, Latin America, South Africa and Eastern Europe.
The products of the business to be sold are marketed under brand names
including 'SURPASS', 'TOPNOTCH', and 'FULTIME' (primarily in the US), and
TROPHY and RELAY (primarily in the rest of the world).

It is Zeneca's expectation and a requirement of both the FTC and the EC that
the acetochlor business will be sold to another major agricultural chemicals
company with a significant presence in the U.S. and other key international
markets. 

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 USD2.7bn in over 130 countries. AstraZeneca (Registered
Office, London) is a leading international pharmaceuticals and bioscience
group with 1999 sales of USD17.8bn.



Further enquiries to :

Elizabeth Sutton :     [phone]
Ed Seage :             [phone]