Bayer wins U.S. approval to buy Monsanto

Monsanto brand will disappear

At the end of May, Bayer won U.S. approval for its planned takeover of Monsanto after agreeing to sell about USD 9 billion in assets, clearing a major hurdle for the USD 62.5 billion deal that will create by far the largest seeds and pesticides maker.
U.S. Justice Department’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division said the asset sales agreed to by Bayer were the “largest ever divestiture ever required by the United States.”
Under agreements with European and other antitrust enforcers, Bayer agreed to sell assets with revenues of 2.2 billion euros (US$2.6 billion), to rival BASF for 7.6 billion euros.

After months of delays in a drawn-out review process the ruling brings Bayer close to creating an agricultural supplies giant with sales of about 20 billion euros, based on 2017 figures, when taking into account the divestments. At current foreign exchange rates, that compares to about 12.4 billion euros at DowDuPont’s Corteva Agriscience unit, 11 billion euros at ChemChina’s Syngenta and 7.9 billion at BASF, including businesses to be acquired.

Bayer’s move to combine its crop chemicals business, the world’s second-largest after Syngenta AG, with Monsanto’s industry-leading seeds business, is the latest in a series of major agrochemicals tie-ups. U.S. chemicals giants Dow Chemical and DuPont merged in September 2017 and are now in the process of splitting into three units. In other consolidation in the sector, China’s state-owned ChemChina purchased Syngenta and two huge Canadian fertilizer producers merged to form a new company, now called Nutrien.

Bayer to retire Monsanto name
German pharmaceutical giant Bayer will officially buy US agriculture giant Monsanto on Thursday (June 7). Bayer announced they will immediately retire the 117-year-old Monsanto name. Monsanto is the world’s biggest supplier of genetically modified seeds, and the name “Monsanto” has become a rallying point for members of the anti-GMO movement. “Bayer will remain the company name. Monsanto will no longer be a company name. The acquired products will retain their brand names and become part of the Bayer portfolio,” Bayer said in a statement to Reuters.
Bayer’s decision to drop the name means Monsanto products like Roundup will still be Roundup, but now they will be Bayer’s Roundup, not Monsanto’s Roundup. 

Source: International Press