by Ben Nuelle LISTEN: Money Matters 9-15-16
$66 billion. That is the valuation of the Monsanto-Bayer merger.
Both Bayer and Monsanto announced a merger agreement in a joint tele-conference Wednesday morning. Bayer CEO Werner Baumann says the new company will provide more integrated offerings.
?When we talk about integrated offering. It doesn?t have anything to do with bundling which can be done by anybody. Nor is it our plan or our ambition from having choice. We want to do is develop better solutions with different components in order to help farmers drive better outcomes.?
Hugh Grant is CEO of Monsanto.
?We have been working on this for the last three or four years. The reception has been phenomenally successful with growers. My experience around the world is that you can?t make a grower do anything he or she doesn?t want to do.?
Zack Clark is Government Relations Representative with the National Farmers Union. He says their group is strongly opposed to the merger.
?So in the seed sector, we are going to from six companies down to four. That doesn?t give producers a whole lot of choice. We are always concerned on the input side of things.?
The new company is committed to retaining a strong presence in the U.S. The global Seeds & Traits and North American commercial headquarters will be in St. Louis. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including Monsanto shareholder approval of the merger agreement and receipt of required regulatory approvals. Closing is expected by the end of 2017.
