Bayer to Announce Monsanto Deal Today

14 Sep 2016 --- Bayer is expected to announce the acquisition of Monsanto today (Wednesday), after the board of the US seeds company agreed to an offer of over $66 billion.

The deal is set to be announced ahead of the stock market opening in New York today, following talks which have lasted four months, according to Reuters.

The board of Monsanto met yesterday to agree to the deal while Bayer’s board are thought to be authorising the acquisition today.

The breakthrough appears to clinching the deal appears to be Bayer last week announcing that it would be prepared to offer $127.50 a share, up from the $125 a share offer rejected by Monsanto in July.

The latest offer from Bayer marked its third offer for Monsanto, which began at $122 per share.

But the deal valued Monsanto at less than $130 per share, which Monsanto chief executive Hugh Grant had earmarked.

The deal will create the world's biggest agrochemicals company and mark the latest deal in the chemicals sector.

ChemChina is buying Syngenta, which Monsanto tried to buy 12 months ago, while Dow Chemical is to merge with DuPont.

Bringing together Bayer and Monsanto would form a company with a diverse portfolio making products such as Aspirin, Alka-Seltzer and crop genetics and a range of agricultural products.

It would mean that Bayer could tie-up its crop science franchise with Monsanto’s biotechnology and seed products, including its chemical spray Roundup.
 
According to Morgan Stanley, the combined entity would control around 28 percent of the world's pesticides and 36 percent of US corn seeds.