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Bayer, the German crop science company, has confirmed it has agreed a takeover deal with US seed and chemical giant Monsanto.
Bayer said it will pay $128/share for Monsanto. Including Monsanto’s $9.3bn debt, this would equate to a takeover offer of $65.2bn – the largest all-cash bid on record.
After months of wrangling over a deal, the combination of these two giants creates the world’s largest seed and chemical company that will command a 25% share of the market in both sectors.
The deal is part of a wider trend within the agrichemical and seed industry following a host of high-profile deals in the last year.
In December, Dow and DuPont announced a $130bn merger, while just a month later the state-owned conglomerate ChemChina revealed a $43bn takeover of the Swiss seed and chemical giant Syngenta.
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