Monsanto's bid for Syngenta would face another antitrust hurdle in Brazil

Monsanto's bid for Syngenta would face strong resistance in Brazil should it go forward, farmers and lawyers said, a hurdle that could delay or force major concessions to the $45 billion deal. Sources familiar with Monsanto said the company's legal focus so far has been on potential antitrust hurdles in the United States and the EU, but that it has legal teams in Brazil, China and elsewhere studying the merger.

 

Brazil's regulator, Cade, could spend up to a year, the maximum time allowed, analyzing any potential deal, said Marcio de Carvalho Silveira Bueno, an antitrust lawyer at Sao Paulo-based TozziniFreire Advogados. 

 

Vinícius de Carvalho, the president of Cade, declined to comment on whether a Monsanto-Syngenta deal would require antitrust remedies.

 

Independent Brazilian lawyers noted that in recent years Cade has approved some large tie-ups affecting agriculture, one of few bright spots in Brazil's stalled economy, but with restrictions.   

 

“Brazilian farmers are already opposed to the deal, main concerns are with genetically modified seeds, where Monsanto leads and Syngenta is developing technology in Brazil, and agricultural chemicals, where Syngenta is the leader and Monsanto has some production.”said Ricardo Tomczyk, president of Brazil's main farmers' lobby Aprosoja in top growing state Mato Grosso.