By Lorraine Chow – EcoWatch, 14 September 2016
Source: http://www.ecowatch.com/bayer-buys-monsanto-2004657068.html
Monsanto has finally agreed to be purchased by Bayer AG in a historic $66 billion all-cash takeover. The agreement, which both corporations have confirmed, will form the largest seed and pesticide company in the world.
The German pharmaceuticals and chemicals giant had been courting the St. Louis-based seed maker for roughly four months, with the aspirin-maker sweetening the pot with ever-growing sums of money. Bayer finally plans to pay $128 a share for Monsanto, up from its initial May offer of $122 a share.
Not only is this the largest foreign corporate takeover ever by a German firm, it’s the largest cash bid on record, as Reuters reported. A successful merger would create the world’s largest agrichemical firm, which will control more than one-fourth of the combined global market for seeds and pesticides.
According to Bloomberg, “The deal gives Bayer more than 2,000 varieties of seeds for crops such as corn, soybeans, and wheat. Adding that portfolio to its own vegetable, rice, cotton and oilseed offerings give Bayer a virtually unassailable position at the head of the market.”
The Monsanto-Bayer combination is yet another example of the rapidly consolidating agricultural industry, with only a handful of companies controlling the sector. Alongside slumping crop prices, DuPont Co. and Dow Chemical Co. have agreed to merge, as did China National Chemical Corp. and Syngenta AG.
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Behind the Monsanto Deal, Doubts About the GMO Revolution
By Jacob Bunge – The Wall Street Journal, 14 September 2016
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People’s Assemblies across the world – Seed Freedom | Transition Studies says:
October 7, 2016 at 5:18 pm -
[…] genocide. Aggressive mega-mergers of the grain and chemical cartels have now become the norm. The Monsanto and Bayer $66 billion merger is just the latest, following on the heels of both the Dow/Dupont and Syngenta […]