BASF is close to acquire Bayer's vegetable seed business

Editor: This Monday, AgroPages reported a news from Reuters, "BASF in talks to buy Bayer's vegetable seeds business". At that time, except BASF, there were still some potential buyers, such as Limagrain and Syngenta.

However, today, BASF and Bayer both release official announcement, saying that they are working on a exclusive talk on the sale of vegetable seeds business. I think BASF is really close to finish the acquisition of this vegetable seed business. If the acquisition finally complete, it means BASF accquires almost all the seed business of Bayer, which will generate another top seed companies in the world, ranked sixth in the global seed industry according to the financial report in 2016. 

BASF official report

BASF is in exclusive talks to acquire Bayer’s entire vegetable seeds business, operating under the global trademark Nunhems®. Bayer intends to divest this business in the context of its planned acquisition of Monsanto. Definitive agreements have not been concluded. With this transaction, BASF targets to enhance its future seed platform and the market position of its Agricultural Solutions business.

On October 13, 2017, BASF signed an agreement to acquire significant parts of Bayer’s seed and non-selective herbicide businesses. The all-cash purchase price is €5.9 billion, subject to certain adjustments at closing. The assets to be acquired include Bayer’s global glufosinate-ammonium non-selective herbicide business as well as its seed businesses for key row crops in select markets: canola hybrids in North America under the InVigor® brand using the LibertyLink® trait technology, oilseed rape mainly in European markets, cotton in the Americas and Europe as well as soybean in the Americas. The transaction also includes Bayer’s trait research and breeding capabilities for these crops and the LibertyLink® trait and trademark. This acquisition complements BASF’s crop protection business and marks its entry into the seed business with proprietary assets in key agricultural markets.

Bayer official report

Bayer is in exclusive talks with BASF on the sale of its entire vegetable seeds business. Through this and related moves, Bayer is confident of fully addressing all concerns of the European Commission.

On October 13, 2017, Bayer had already agreed to sell selected Crop Science businesses to BASF for 5.9 billion euros. This first package covers Bayer’s global glufosinate-ammonium business and the related LibertyLink™ technology for herbicide tolerance, essentially all of the company’s field crop seed businesses, and the respective research and development capabilities. The seed businesses being divested include the global cotton seed business (excluding India and South Africa), the oilseed rape/canola business in North America and Europe, and the soybean seed business.

Any sales and licenses would be subject to a successful closing of the proposed acquisition of Monsanto, which remains subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of required regulatory approvals. The European Commission recently extended the examination deadline for the acquisition until April 5. Bayer is working closely with the authorities worldwide in order to successfully close the transaction in the second quarter of 2018.