Monsanto Reiterates Its Desire for Syngenta
21 May 2015 --- Leading crop protection and seeds company Monsanto strengthened its resolve to buy Swiss-owned Syngenta in a presentation by President and Chief Operating Officer Brett Begemann yesterday. Addressing investors, Begemann said that the company would be willing to immediately sell Syngenta’s seed division in order to satisfy competition authorities.
Begemann reinforced that, in conjunction with its financial and legal advisors, Monsanto has devoted significant time and resources to analyzing a potential combination of Syngenta and Monsanto and remains confident in its ability to address regulatory concerns. This includes the company’s commitment to divest all of Syngenta’s seeds and traits assets and certain overlapping chemistry assets, making Monsanto better positioned than anyone in the industry to create a new company committed to integrated, value-added solutions and enabling continued choice in the seed industry. Further, the proceeds from the planned divestitures would create a source of cash to allow the combined company to have a responsible capital structure post-close.
Begemann expanded upon Monsanto’s vision and strategic rationale for the Syngenta proposal, noting the opportunity is about creating a new company that pursues a truly integrated solutions strategy – redefining the future of agriculture.
He listed five key areas in which the new company could successfully lead the way in feeding the world’s population, notably Innovation, Scale & Reach, Integrated Solutions, Precision and Synergies.
Syngenta rejected Monsanto’s initial offer of $45bn to buy the company, saying that the offer significantly undervalues the company. Yesterday, reports suggest that Syngenta continues to reject such an offer in light of Begemann’s presentation.
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