BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany, announced on Aug. 2 that it has closed the acquisition of a range of businesses and assets from German competitor Bayer AG as part of Bayer’s merger with St. Louis-based Monsanto Co. BASF said the transaction compliments its crop protection, biotech, and digital farming activities, and marks its entry into seeds, non-selective herbicides, and nematicide seed treatments.
“This strategic move adds excellent assets to our strong agricultural solutions portfolio and enhances our innovation potential,” said Dr. Martin Brudermüller, chairman of the board of executive directors and chief technology officer at BASF. “Overall, it ensures an even more comprehensive and attractive offering to our customers.”
BASF signed agreements in October 2017 (GM Oct. 20, 2017) and April 2018 (GM May 11, p. 31) to acquire €7.6 billion worth of businesses and assets that Bayer was required to divest to satisfy regulatory concerns regarding its acquisition of Monsanto. About 4,500 employees will join BASF through the acquisition, and BASF has renamed its former Crop Protection agriculture business as Agricultural Solutions.
The agreements include Bayer’s global glufosinate-ammonium business; seeds businesses, including traits, research and breeding capabilities, and trademarks for key row crops in select markets; the R&D platform for hybrid wheat; a range of seed treatment products; certain glyphosate-based herbicides in Europe, used predominantly for industrial applications; the digital farming platform xarvio; and certain non-selective herbicide and nematicide research projects. BASF is also acquiring Bayer’s vegetable seeds business, which is expected to close in mid-August 2018.
“This acquisition transforms BASF in agriculture,” said Saori Dubourg, member of the board of executive directors of BASF responsible for the Agricultural Solutions segment. “It strengthens our market position in agricultural solutions and creates new opportunities for growth. We are looking forward to our joint journey and warmly welcome the new colleagues to BASF.”
Bayer announced on June 7 (GM June 8, p. 1) that it had completed its $63 billion acquisition of Monsanto following the receipt of all required approvals from regulatory authorities. The full integration of Monsanto into Bayer was scheduled to start once the BASF sale was completed. Bayer will remain the company name, with Monsanto’s name dropped after integration. Bayer said all acquired products in the deal will retain their brand names, but will become part of the Bayer portfolio. Bayer is based in Leverkusen, Germany.