Bayer’s offer consisted of US$122/per share in cash, making it the biggest takeover attempt ever made by a German company, according to Bloomberg.
How this merger will play out is still unclear. According to a press release issued by Monsanto, the offer was rejected as “incomplete and financially inadequate.”
Monsanto was, however, “open to continued and constructive conversations to assess whether a transaction in the best interest of Monsanto shareowners could be achieved,” the release said.
Bayer has yet to respond.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the two companies accounted for about 28% of global pesticide sales. Analysts had, however, expressed concern that the deal would not be passed by competition authorities, while many US farmers were also concerned about the cost implication on seed and pesticide purchases, as a result of reduced competition in the marketplace.
“Together we would draw on the collective expertise of both companies to build a leading agriculture player with exceptional innovation capabilities, to the benefit of farmers, consumers, our employees and the communities in which we operate,” Werner Baumann, CEO of Bayer, said in a press release.
Bayer’s bid for Monsanto was the third of this nature in the agricultural sector, following on the heels of proposed mergers between Dow and DuPont and ChemChina and Syngenta.
