EU: EC set to approve US$62.5b Bayer, Monsanto deal

EU antitrust regulators are set to approve with conditions German drug and crop chemical maker Bayer’s US$62.5 billion bid for world No. 1 seed company Monsanto, Reuters reported on Wednesday, February 28.

Bayer has said it is ready to make additional concessions to win regulatory approval for its US$66 billion deal to take over US seed giant Monsanto, but cautioned that it could take slightly longer than expected to receive final clearance from antitrust authorities.

The German pharmaceuticals and chemicals group had originally forecast that the landmark acquisition would clear all regulatory hurdles in the beginning of the year. “Our goal now is to be able to close the transaction in the second quarter of 2018,” Werner Baumann, chief executive of Bayer, said on Wednesday, February 28. “This does not affect our expectation of a successful conclusion to the regulatory review, nor our conviction that this is the right step.”

 

Full Content: The Wall Street Journal

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