WASHINGTON, July 14, 2016 – Bayer AG said today that it has raised its all-cash bid for Monsanto, which earlier rejected a $62 billion takeover offer from the Germany-based industrial giant.
In a news release, Bayer said it had increased its offer to $125 a share from $122 a share. St. Louis-based Monsanto, the world’s biggest producer of genetically modified seeds, confirmed that it had received the non-binding proposal and said its board of directors will review the offer.
“We are convinced that this transaction is the best opportunity available to provide Monsanto shareholders with highly attractive, immediate and certain value,” Werner Baumann, Bayer’s chief executive, said in a statement. “Bayer is fully committed to pursuing this transaction.”
In an acknowledgement that antitrust officials may oppose the deal, Bayer also proposed a $1.5 billion breakup fee if a merger doesn’t work out. However, Bayer said it “remains confident in its ability to obtain all necessary regulatory approvals in a timely manner given complementary geographic and product portfolios.”
Combining Monsanto with Bayer, which makes a wide variety of pesticides, would create an industrial and agricultural powerhouse with annual sales of $67 billion.
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