Bayer Acquires Monsanto After Months Of Negotiations
September 14, 2016 Bayer and Monsanto today announced that they signed a definitive merger agreement under which Bayer will acquire Monsanto for $128 per share in an all-cash transaction. Monsanto’s Board of Directors, Bayer’s Board of Management and Bayer’s Supervisory Board have unanimously approved the agreement. Based on Monsanto’s closing share price on May 9, 2016, the day before Bayer’s first written proposal to Monsanto, the offer represents a premium of 44% to that price, amounting to an aggregate value of $66 billion.
“We are pleased to announce the combination of our two great organizations. This represents a major step forward for our crop science business and reinforces Bayer’s leadership position as a global innovation driven life science company with leadership positions in its core segments, delivering substantial value to shareholders, our customers, employees and society at large,” said Werner Baumann, CEO of Bayer AG.
“Today’s announcement is a testament to everything we’ve achieved and the value that we have created for our stakeholders at Monsanto. We believe that this combination with Bayer represents the most compelling value for our share-owners, with the most certainty through the all-cash consideration,” said Hugh Grant, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Monsanto.
Complementary Businesses
According to the company, this transaction brings together two different, but highly complementary businesses. The combined business will benefit from Monsanto’s leadership in seeds and traits and Climate Corporation platform along with Bayer’s broad Crop Protection product line across a comprehensive range of indications and crops in all key geographies. As a result, growers will benefit from a broad set of solutions to meet their current and future needs, including enhanced solutions in seeds and traits, digital agriculture, and crop protection.
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The combination also brings together both companies’ leading innovation capabilities and R&D technology platforms, with an annual pro-forma R&D budget of approximately €2.5 billion. Over the mid-to long-term, the combined business will be able to accelerate innovation and provide customers with enhanced solutions and an optimized product suite based on analytical agronomic insight supported by Digital Farming applications.
“The agriculture industry is at the heart of one of the greatest challenges of our time: how to feed an additional 3 billion people in the world by 2050 in an environmentally sustainable way. It has been both companies’ belief that this challenge requires a new approach that more systematically integrates expertise across seeds, traits and crop protection, including biologicals with a deep commitment to innovation and sustainable agriculture practices,” said Liam Condon, member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG and head of the Crop Science Division.
Headquarters and Employees
The combined agriculture business will have its global seeds and traits and North American commercial headquarters in St. Louis, MO, its global crop protection and overall crop science headquarters in Monheim, Germany, and an important presence in Durham, NC, as well as many other locations throughout the U.S. and around the world. The digital farming activities for the combined business will be based in San Francisco, CA.
“This combination is a great opportunity for employees, who will be at the forefront of innovation in our sector. This transaction also enhances Bayer’s strong commitment to the U.S., building on our 150-year history with operations across 25 states employing more than 12,000 people in the country. I am convinced that Monsanto will flourish as part of one of the most respected and trusted companies in the world,” said Baumann.
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