Peter-Vincent Schuld

German agrochemical giant Bayer has come one step closer to merging with seed developer Monsanto.

Yesterday it was announced that the European Commission approved the sale of Bayer’s “Crop Science Sparte” division to the other chemical giant subject to reservations to BASF.
BASF was the preferred party in both Bayer’s and the European Commission’s eyes for the acquisition of the divestiture of the business units.

Both Monsanto and Bayer were obliged by the European antitrust authorities to divest parts of their companies worth 6 billion euros.
However, the proposed merger with the confirmation of the sale of Bayer’s seed division to BASF is not yet a done deal.

The European Commission has imposed a series of conditions on the proposed merger of the two companies. Among other things, the freedom of choice for customers of the type of products produced by the two companies should be guaranteed. Since August of last year, the European Commission has launched an investigation because there are serious concerns about freedom of choice for buyers such as farmers and possible excessive price increases. The merger is also being followed with suspicion from among nature and environmental conservationists. Monsanto in particular is under fire for its genetically modified seeds. About one million signatures were handed over to European Commissioner Versteger against the proposed merger. The European Commission considers itself competent only when it comes to combating cartels.

The US competition authorities also still have to give their approval

The total cost of the total takeover of Monsanto by Bayer is about 53 billion euros. The proposed merger of the two companies would create the world’s largest seed and crop protection company.