Proposed Demerger & Merger

AstraZeneca PLC
21 February 2000


ASTRAZENECA PLC
SYNGENTA : ANTI-TRUST UPDATE

AstraZeneca PLC announced today, following a period of pre-
notification discussions with the European Commission, that
they and Novartis AG have filed their notification for
regulatory approval in the EU of the proposed demerger and
merger of the agrochemicals business of AstraZeneca and the
agrochemicals and seeds businesses of Novartis .
  
In addition AstraZeneca announced today that the U.S.
Federal Trade Commission has requested that the companies
provide additional information on the proposed demergers and
merger.   The request extends the period before the
transaction can receive competition law clearance in the
U.S.   Such requests are not unusual in large transactions.
The parties are working actively with the FTC in order to
provide the requested information as soon as possible.   The
parties continue to believe that they will be in a position
to complete the transaction in the second half of the year.


Media:
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Investor Relations:
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Ed Seage, tel [phone]
Staffan Ternby, tel [phone]