Monsanto Stalks Syngenta May 13, 2015 12:00 am The directors of the Swiss-based plant technology Syngenta have rejected a takeover approach from the US company Monsanto. The offer, worth $45bn, has been rejected as undervaluing the company (despite being at a 33% premium over the early May share price). There are also concerns about getting such a consolidation past competition authorities, and also the reputational risk associated with a brand such as Monsanto. The US company may well come back with a further offer. Monsanto is likely to be looking to boost its crop protection business, to sit alongside its considerable presence in seeds. If any merger were to progress one of the conditions imposed could be a sale of Syngenta’s seed operation. This would be of interest to the likes of BASF and Bayer.
