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Monsanto wants more green.
The rejection comes as no surprise. The offer — which would be the biggest takeover ever attempted by a German company — comes amid rapid consolidation in the agricultural chemicals industry. And generous as it seems, it falls flat compared to other landmark deals.
Last December, Dow Chemical and DuPont agreed to a $130 billion merger, after which the companies are expected to split into three separate businesses, including one focused on seeds and crop sprays, according to the Financial Times. Then, in February, Swiss competitor Syngenta agreed to a $43 billion takeover by the China National Chemical Corp., or ChemChina. The deal came just months after Syngenta rejected for the fourth time a $47 billion bid from Monsanto.
“We have struggled to find investors who favour this transaction,” Alistair Campbell, an analyst at Berenberg, told the Financial Times in a profile of Baumann last week. “We think a bid for Monsanto will be expensive, [earnings] dilutive and destroy value.”
Still, Monsanto may be vulnerable to a hostile takeover if Bayer commits the resources to a higher offer.
Read full, original post: Why Monsanto Just Rejected A $62 Billion Mega-Merger Offer
