Deere To Review Strategic Options For Crop Insurance Business - Update

(RTTNews) - Agricultural machinery maker Deere & Co (DE) said Tuesday it will review strategic options for its crop insurance business and has retained Citi as exclusive financial advisor toward that end.

Deere said no formal decisions have been made and no agreements have been reached concerning the company's crop insurance operations.

Deere's crop insurance business underwrites policies through John Deere Insurance Co, a business unit within John Deere Financial. Deere has been involved in the crop insurance business for 8 years.

Deere has been grappling with a slowdown in the farm sector for some time now. In Aug, Deere said it will indefinitely lay off about 460 employees at its Waterloo, Iowa operations, in response to current market demand for its products. The layoffs are effective from October 20.

Deere reported a 15 percent decline in profit for the third quarter, hurt by weak sales of agricultural equipment.

Deere stock is trading at $83.35, down $0.39 or 0.47%, on a volume of 1.8 million shares on the NYSE.