‘New Era in Agriculture’: Bayer Takes Monsanto for $66 Billion
In a deal that publicly began months ago, it’s now official: Bayer is buying Monsanto for a whopping $66 billion ($128 per share). The all-cash transaction is expected to generate synergies of nearly $1.5 billion in three years, according to Bayer. The combined companies will have an annual pro-forma R&D budget of about €2.5 billion.
“We are fully committed to helping solve one of the biggest challenges of society – and that is how to feed a massively growing world population in an environmentally sustainable manner,” said Werner Baumann, CEO of Bayer AG in a video statement. “What we do is good for consumers. We help to produce sufficient, safe, healthy and affordable food. It is also good for our growers. Because they have better choices to increase yields in a sustainable way.”
Hugh Grant, chairman and CEO of Monsanto stated, “we are entering a new era in Agriculture – one in which growers are demanding new solutions and technologies to be more profitable and to be even more sustainable. The vision for this combination was born out of that desire to help farmers grow more with less. Together with Bayer, we are going to be able to offer growers even better solutions, faster.”