AgroPages-Poll : Syngenta investors want raise bargaining on deal with Monsanto-Agricultural news

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A recent poll done by Investment research firm Sanford C. Bernstein and Co. Inc., founded that 92 % of the 100 investors polled favored negotiating with Monsanto on an acquisition deal , compared with 3% who wanted to keep to the company’s current strategy and management team.

Of those who favored negotiating with Monsanto, the average “desired” offer was 5 % higher than Monsanto’s $45 billion bid, which has been rejected twice this year by Syngenta leadership. Only 32 % of those surveyed said they would accept Monsanto’s current offer, Bernstein said in a report.

Bernstein analyst Jeremy Redenius outlined three possible ways to forward for Syngenta:

1.Deal with Monsanto, which investors could push for through an “Extraordinary General Meeting”

2.Seek another deal (for example, a merger with Dow AgroSciences);

3.Change the strategy dramatically

According to the poll, investors would want changes to the company’s cost focus, divestiture of Syngenta’s seed business — which Monsanto has said it is committed to in a merger scenario — increased shareholder returns, management change, and same or increased R&D.

In a emailed statement, a Syngenta spokeswoman said of the poll, “Following our recent half year results, we have met with over 100 investors in Europe and the US and it is clear from these conversations that the proposal from Monsanto is wholly unacceptable as it fundamentally undervalues Syngenta’s future prospects and is fraught with significant execution and regulatory risk.”