German pharmaceutical company Bayer confirmed Monday it proposed an all-cash of $62 billion to purchase Monsanto Co., a global agricultural company and leading producer of genetically-engineered seed and glyphosate-based herbicide.
“We have long respected Monsanto’s business and share their vision to create an integrated business that we believe is capable of generating substantial value for both companies’ shareholders,” says Werner Baumann, CEO of Bayer AG. “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.”
According to Bayer, the transaction would bring together leading seeds & traits, crop protection, biologics, and digital farming platforms. Specifically, the combined business would benefit from Monsanto’s leadership in seeds & traits and Bayer’s broad crop protection product line across a comprehensive range of indications and crops.
Under the proposed transaction, the global Seeds & Traits and North American commercial headquarters would be located in St. Louis, Missouri and the company’s global crop protection and divisional crop science headquarters would be in Monheim, Germany. Digital farming for the combined business would be based near San Francisco, California.
Monsanto says its board is currently reviewing the proposal, but declined any additional comment until the review is complete.
