Company Take-Over & Mergers News September 8, 2016 12:00 am US-based biotech business Monsanto has accepted Bayer’s increased bid. The deal said to be worth $66 billion (£50bn) will have to go through competition regulations and although the German chemicals firm is insisting there is very little overlap between the two giants, it remains to be seen how much regulators demand of them. Some in the industry think Monsanto’s shareholders are the only winners; Bayer having paid too much and growers facing less product choice and increased input costs. Further consolidation in the industry looks likely through the acquisition of Syngenta by the state owned chemicals company China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina). The company has extended its tender offer to buy the shares of the Swiss agribusiness firm by nearly two months, although it says its plans to complete the transaction by the end of 2016 are still on course. Meanwhile the $130 billion (€116bn) merger between Dow and DuPont, which would see the formation of the world’s largest pesticides and seeds company, has prompted an ‘in-depth’ competition probe by the EU.
