Monsanto accepts sweetened bid from Bayer: report
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NEW YORK - US seeds and pesticide giant Monsanto has agreed to a sweetened takeover bid from the German pharmaceutical and chemical group Bayer, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
The agency quoted sources close to the deal, and said the negotiations continue, with the final figures in the mega-deal apt to change.
Monsanto's board of directors met Tuesday evening. Several news outlets including the German newspaper Rheinische Post said Bayer is offering an increased $129 (115 euros) per share for Monsanto, compared with the $127.50 it proposed last week.
The new offer would value Monsanto at $56.5 billion.
Bayer made a first all-cash offer in May of $122 per share, which Monsanto rejected as "incomplete and financially inadequate". The German company's second offer was $125 per share.
A merger of the two companies would create a new global leader in genetically modified seeds and pesticides.
As part of its latest proposal, Bayer is also offering to double, to $3 billion, the compensation it would have to pay to Monsanto if the deal is stopped by competition regulators, Rheinische Post said.
The proposed tie-up has rung alarms bells for some farmers who fear the power of the combined company in the market for seeds and pesticides, while opponents of genetically-modified food in Europe worry about Monsanto's influence on the continent.
- AFP
