Bayer wins U.S. approval for Monsanto takeover

Bayer won U.S. antitrust approval for its US$66 billion takeover of Monsanto Co., clearing the last major regulatory hurdle to forming the world’s biggest seed and agricultural-chemicals provider after a nearly two-year review.

The companies reached a settlement with the Justice Department that resolves the government’s concerns that the merger as initially structured would harm consumers and farmers, the U.S. said in a statement Tuesday.

The agreement requires the sale of assets to BASF SE that Bayer has previously announced. The divestiture package is worth about US$9 billion, the largest in a U.S. merger enforcement case, the government said.

“America’s farm system is of critical importance to our economy, to our food system, and to our way of life,” Makan Delrahim, the head of the department’s antitrust division, said on a call with reporters. “American farmers and consumers rely on head-to-head competition between Bayer and Monsanto.”

For Bayer, acquiring Monsanto is the last step in a corporate transformation as the 154-year-old company shed its plastics business and remade itself as a life-science company with equally-sized health and agriculture units. Once the deal is through, three global behemoths will dominate the world’s agriculture industry, a prospect that has left farmers worried about the possibility of higher prices and less choice.

The settlement came together after Justice Department antitrust officials pressed for significant divestitures to remedy the competition problems from combining the two companies.

The companies have received antitrust approval from most jurisdictions around the world. Bayer has said it’s confident the deal will close by the June 14 deadline.

Bayer expects to receive the remaining approvals it needs to finish the deal “very shortly,” the Leverkusen, Germany-based company said in a statement.

The integration of Monsanto into Bayer can happen as soon as the BASF divestitures are finished, which will probably be in about two months, Bayer said.

Monsanto didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.