Released April 23, 2018 | GALWAY, IRELAND
en
Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The European Commission (EC) has cleared the way for the $66 billion merger of Germany's pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG (Leverkusan, Germany) and the world's largest supplier of seeds, Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) (St. Louis, Missouri).
The EC said that the deal would be cleared only if Bayer was willing to divest itself of an "extensive remedy package" to address where there was business overlap in seeds, pesticides and digital agriculture. Bayer has committed to remove all of the parties' existing overlaps in seed and pesticide markets by selling the relevant Bayer businesses and assets. These include Bayer's global R&D organisation for seeds and traits as well as Bayer's research activities to develop a challenger product to Monsanto's glyphosate. They also cover certain Monsanto assets, which in the future would have competed with a Bayer seed treatment against nematode worms. Finally, Bayer has committed to grant a licence to its entire global digital agriculture product portfolio and pipeline products "to ensure continued competition on this emerging market." Bayer has agreed to sell its digital farming business to German chemicals major BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany).
Industrial Info is tracking Bayer and Monsanto projects worth more than $3 billion across the Chemical Processing, Food & Beverage and Pharmaceutical sectors. For additional information, see September 15, 2016, article - Bayer-Monsanto Merger Encompasses $3.25 Billion of Projects.
"We have approved Bayer's plans to take over Monsanto because the parties' remedies, worth well over six billion euro ($7.4 billion), meet our competition concerns in full," said European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy: "Our decision ensures that there will be effective competition and innovation in seeds, pesticides and digital agriculture markets also after this merger. In particular, we have made sure that the number of global players actively competing in these markets stays the same. That is important because we need competition to ensure farmers have a choice of different seed varieties and pesticides at affordable prices. And we need competition to push companies to innovate in digital agriculture and to continue to develop new products that meet the high regulatory standards in Europe, to the benefit of all Europeans and the environment."
Bayer Chief Executive Officer Werner Baumann added: "Receipt of the European Commission's approval is a major success and a significant milestone. Together with Monsanto, we want to help farmers across the world grow more nutritious food in a more sustainable way that benefits both consumers and the environment."
Media reports this week suggest that the U.S. Department of Justice is also close to granting the merger the green light. The companies have said that they want the merger to be completed by the second quarter of this year.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Our European headquarters are located in Galway, Ireland. Follow IIR Europe on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn For more information on our European coverage send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.eu or visit us online at Industrial Info Europe.
The EC said that the deal would be cleared only if Bayer was willing to divest itself of an "extensive remedy package" to address where there was business overlap in seeds, pesticides and digital agriculture. Bayer has committed to remove all of the parties' existing overlaps in seed and pesticide markets by selling the relevant Bayer businesses and assets. These include Bayer's global R&D organisation for seeds and traits as well as Bayer's research activities to develop a challenger product to Monsanto's glyphosate. They also cover certain Monsanto assets, which in the future would have competed with a Bayer seed treatment against nematode worms. Finally, Bayer has committed to grant a licence to its entire global digital agriculture product portfolio and pipeline products "to ensure continued competition on this emerging market." Bayer has agreed to sell its digital farming business to German chemicals major BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany).
Industrial Info is tracking Bayer and Monsanto projects worth more than $3 billion across the Chemical Processing, Food & Beverage and Pharmaceutical sectors. For additional information, see September 15, 2016, article - Bayer-Monsanto Merger Encompasses $3.25 Billion of Projects.
"We have approved Bayer's plans to take over Monsanto because the parties' remedies, worth well over six billion euro ($7.4 billion), meet our competition concerns in full," said European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy: "Our decision ensures that there will be effective competition and innovation in seeds, pesticides and digital agriculture markets also after this merger. In particular, we have made sure that the number of global players actively competing in these markets stays the same. That is important because we need competition to ensure farmers have a choice of different seed varieties and pesticides at affordable prices. And we need competition to push companies to innovate in digital agriculture and to continue to develop new products that meet the high regulatory standards in Europe, to the benefit of all Europeans and the environment."
Bayer Chief Executive Officer Werner Baumann added: "Receipt of the European Commission's approval is a major success and a significant milestone. Together with Monsanto, we want to help farmers across the world grow more nutritious food in a more sustainable way that benefits both consumers and the environment."
Media reports this week suggest that the U.S. Department of Justice is also close to granting the merger the green light. The companies have said that they want the merger to be completed by the second quarter of this year.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Our European headquarters are located in Galway, Ireland. Follow IIR Europe on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn For more information on our European coverage send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.eu or visit us online at Industrial Info Europe.
