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Germany: Bayer divesting Liberty brands to gain approval

By  |  May 8, 2017

Bayer has agreed to divest its Liberty herbicide and Liberty Link-branded seeds businesses across the globe to win antitrust approval for its planned merger with Monsanto, it said on Monday.

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    The conditions were imposed by South Africa’s Competition Commission on Sunday and agreed to by Bayer.

    While South Africa is a relatively small market for the two global agricultural supplies giants, the move marks the first time that Bayer has acknowledged it has to sell the two related Liberty brands, which compete with Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer and Roundup Ready seeds.

    The planned divestitures are widely expected to be also imposed by watchdogs in larger jurisdictions, such as the United States and the European Union, where antitrust procedures are still ongoing.

    In March, the German drug and crop chemicals maker, together with Monsanto, began the process of selling assets worth roughly $2.5 billion as they seek regulatory clearance for their $66 billion merger.

    Full Content: Reuters

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