Monsanto Rejects Latest Bayer Offer

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2016 - Monsanto Co. has rejected Bayer Ag's latest takeover bid, saying its board views the $125-per-share offer as "financially inadequate and insufficient to ensure deal certainty."

In a brief statement, the St. Louis-based company said it "remains open to continued and constructive conversations with Bayer and other parties to assess whether a transaction that the board believes is in the best interest of Monsanto shareowners can be realized."

Last week, Germany-based Bayer offered to pay $125 a share for Monsanto, up from $122 a share offered in May, a bid valued at $62 billion. Monsanto, the world's biggest producer of genetically modified seeds, also called that offer financially inadequate.

Bayer also has proposed a $1.5 billion breakup fee if a merger doesn't work out. However, Bayer said last week it was "confident in its ability to obtain all necessary regulatory approvals in a timely manner given complementary geographic and product portfolios."

Combining Monsanto with Bayer, which makes a wide variety of pesticides, would create an industrial and agricultural powerhouse with annual sales of $67 billion.

Written by Agri-Pulse Communications