BASF to Buy Large Parts of Bayer's Seed and Non-Selective Herbicide Businesses
13 October 2017 - 5:42PM
Dow Jones News
By Anthony Shevlin
BASF SE (BAS.XE) said on Friday that it has signed an agreement
to buy significant parts of Bayer AG's (BAYN.XE) seed and
non-selective herbicide businesses for 5.9 billion euros ($6.99
billion), subject to certain adjustments at closing.
German pharmaceutical company Bayer said that the assets to be
sold include its global glufosinate-ammonium business and related
LibertyLink technology for herbicide tolerance, almost all its
field-crop seeds businesses, as well as respective
research-and-development capabilities.
The businesses included in the agreement generated around EUR1.3
billion in net sales for 2016 and the deal is expected to close in
the first quarter of 2018. Bayer said that it agreed to the deal in
light of its planned acquisition of Monsanto Co. (MON), adding that
it will use the net proceeds from the BASF transaction to partially
refinance the purchase of the U.S. agricultural company.
"We are taking an active approach to address potential
regulatory concerns, with the goal of facilitating a successful
close of the Monsanto transaction," said Werner Baumann, Bayer's
chief executive and chairman of the board of management.
Bayer said that BASF has committed to maintaining all permanent
positions for at least three years after the transaction is
completed. More than 1,800 Bayer personnel will transfer to
BASF.
Under the deal, BASF will acquire Bayer's manufacturing sites
for glufosinate-ammonium production and formulation in Germany, the
U.S. and Canada, its seed-breeding facilities in the Americas and
Europe and its trait-research facilities in the Americas and
Europe.
Write to Anthony Shevlin at anthony.shevlin@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 13, 2017 02:27 ET (06:27 GMT)
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