US-based agricultural company Monsanto has secured an approval from its shareholders to merge its business with a subsidiary of German pharmaceutical company Bayer for $66bn.
As per the terms of the merger deal, the shareowners will be paid $128 per share in cash at the closing of the transaction.
Monsanto formally agreed with the merger offer in mid September. Prior to that, in May, it rejected Bayer’s offer of $62bn calling it to be inadequate.
The merger has been touted to help the combined business to leverage on the agricultural company’s expertise in seeds and traits, and climate corporation platform.
It is also said to benefit from Bayer’s wide product range for crop protection.
Monsanto Chairman and CEO Hugh Grant said: “This is an important milestone as we work to combine our two complementary companies and deliver on our shared vision for the future of agriculture.
“By bringing together our expertise and our resources to drive this shared vision, we can do even more together to benefit growers around the world and to help address broad global challenges like climate change and food scarcity.”
The merger will also see integration of their innovation capabilities and research and technology (R&D) technology platforms, with an annual R&D budget of approximately €2.5bn.
Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said: “The acquisition of Monsanto is driven by our strong belief that this combination can help address the growing challenges facing farmers and the overall agriculture industry today and in the future.
“Together, Bayer and Monsanto will be able to offer the new, innovative solutions that our customers need. We look forward to completing the transaction and working closely with Monsanto to ensure a successful integration.”
The merger, which is expected to close by 2017 end, is subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals.
The Global Seeds & Traits and North American commercial headquarters of the combined agriculture business will be in St. Louis, Missouri. On the other hand, the global Crop Protection and overall Crop Science headquarters will be based in Monheim, Germany.
