On Monday, Bayer AG formally unveiled a $62 billion offer for U.S. agribusiness giant Monsanto, offering a 37 percent premium over Monsanto's share price on May 9, the day before Bayer first disclosed its interest in the U.S. company. If completed, the all-cash deal would be the largest foreign acquisition by a German firm. "This transaction represents a compelling opportunity for Monsanto's shareholders," new Bayer CEO Werner Baumann argued in a conference call, providing investors "immediate and certain value." Bayer said it would finance the deal through selling shares and borrowing.
Bayer is better known as a pharmaceutical company, but it also makes pesticides, and buying Monsanto would makes its agricultural revenue roughly equal to its drug business, according to European investment bank Bryan Garner. Bayer focuses on agricultural chemicals, while Monsanto is best known for seeds. Not everyone approves of the proposed takeover, The Wall Street Journal notes. Some investors and analysts are worried that taking on so much debt would hurt Bayer's core pharmaceutical business, while others expressed concerns that buying Monsanto, the world's largest producer of genetically modified crops, would hurt Bayer's reputation, especially in anti-GMO Europe.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
'The disconnect between actual health care and the insurance model is widening'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Cautious optimism surrounds plans for the world's first nuclear fusion power plantTalking Point Some in the industry feel that the plant will face many challenges
-
Explore new worlds this winter at these 6 enlightening museum exhibitionsThe Week Recommends Discover the estrados of Spain and the connection between art and chess in various African countries
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons mergerSpeed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
-
Rupert Murdoch loses 'Succession' court battleSpeed Read Murdoch wanted to give full control of his empire to son Lachlan, ensuring Fox News' right-wing editorial slant
-
Bitcoin surges above $100k in post-election rallySpeed Read Investors are betting that the incoming Trump administration will embrace crypto
-
Enron mystery: 'sick joke' or serious revival?Speed Read 23 years after its bankruptcy filing, the Texas energy firm has announced its resurrection
-
US charges Indian tycoon with bribery, fraudSpeed Read Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been indicted by US prosecutors for his role in a $265 million scheme to secure solar energy deals
-
Boeing machinists approve contract, end strikeSpeed Read The company's largest union approved the new contract offer, ending a seven-week strike
-
US economy still strong in final preelection reportSpeed Read It grew at a solid 2.8% annual rate from July through September
-
Boeing machinists reject deal, continue strikeSpeed Read The rejection came the same day Boeing reported a $6.2 billion quarterly loss
