EU: BASF enters seeds market buying US$7b in Bayer assets

BASF agreed to buy part of Bayer AG’s agricultural products business for €5.9 billion (US$7 billion), seizing the opportunity to enter the genetically modified (GM) seeds market as Bayer sells assets to clear the way for its US$66 billion acquisition of Monsanto.

In its biggest ever acquisition, BASF is purchasing Bayer herbicides marketed under the Liberty, Basta and Finale brands, and seed businesses in select markets, including canola hybrids in North America, oilseed rape mainly in Europe, cotton in the Americas and Europe as well as soybean in the Americas, Ludwigshafen, Germany-based BASF announced in a statement Friday, October 13.

The deal marks a change of tack for the world’s biggest chemical company, which until now watched from the sidelines as US$160 billion worth of deals created integrated seed and agrochemical giants like DowDupont. In the past, chief executive Kurt Bock questioned the returns from the heavy investment needed to develop and promote GM crop traits. In picking up the Bayer assets, he beat out Syngenta, which was acquired by China National Chemical for US$46 billion last year, and was also vying for the package of assets, people familiar with the situation have said.

For Bayer, it’s a decisive move designed to gain regulatory approval for the Monsanto purchase. European Union competition officials recently stopped the clock on their antitrust probe to hunt for more information on how the deal will affect competition for key products used by farmers.

Full Content: Bloomberg

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