Bayer, Monsanto Merger Talks Advancing

Randall Weiseman Field Crops, General

bayer-cropsciencemonsantoMerger talks between Monsanto and Bayer AG are advancing after a series of meetings in which the companies have addresses issues including the purchase price and a termination fee, according to Bloomberg News.

Sources close to the talks say a deal could be reached in the next two weeks. Bayer CEO Werner Baumann and Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant have held “constructive meetings” in recent weeks, but Bloomberg said its sources caution that negotiations “could still fall apart or be delayed. Any potential merger between the two would likely face fierce antitrust approval.

Any Bayer-Monsanto deal would follow two other billion-dollar acquisitions in the agricultural industry, ChemChina’s $43 billion takeover of Syngenta AG and Dow Chemical merger with DuPont to create the world’s biggest chemical company. St. Louis, Missouri Based Monsanto rejected Bayer’s previous two attempts to acquire Monsanto.

(From the National Association of Farm Broadcasters News Service)