Bayer to Complete Monsanto Acquisition on June 7
Bayer AG announced on June 4 that it expects to complete its acquisition of St. Louis-based Monsanto already on June, 7, following the receipt of all required approvals from regulatory authorities. The latest conditional approval came from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on May 29 (GM June 1, p. 1).
“The acquisition of Monsanto is a strategic milestone in strengthening our portfolio of leading businesses in health and nutrition,” said Werner Baumann, chairman of the board of management of Bayer. “We will double the size of our agriculture business and create a leading innovation engine in agriculture, positioning us to better serve our customers and unlock the long-term growth potential in the sector.”
Bayer said its May 2016 proposal to acquire Monsanto for $128 per share equates to a current total cost of approximately $63 billion, considering Monsanto’s outstanding debt as of Feb. 28, 2018. Bayer will remain the company name with Monsanto’s name dropped at the time of closing, the company announced. Bayer said all acquired products in the deal will retain their brand names but will become part of the Bayer portfolio.
To gain regulatory approvals, Bayer has agreed to sell a range of assets to German competitor BASF SE in a divestiture package valued at $9 billion, the largest ever in a U.S. merger-enforcement case, the DOJ said. The integration of Monsanto into Bayer is scheduled to start once the BASF sale has been completed, which is expected in approximately two months.