(Dave Bedard photo)

EU officials to decide on Roundup after political impasse

Brussels | Reuters –– An impasse between EU nations on whether to allow Monsanto’s Roundup and similar herbicides to continue to be sold means that the European Commission, rather than national politicians, will decide the issue next week. With most EU attention focused on Britain’s shock decision to quit the bloc, everyday work continued in […] Read more

(Bayer.com)

Bayer ex-CEO reportedly opposed Monsanto deal

Frankfurt | Reuters — Bayer ex-chief executive Marijn Dekkers opposed the company’s plans for a US$62 billion takeover of U.S. seeds firm Monsanto, German magazine Der Spiegel reported. Dekkers warned Bayer non-executive board chairman Werner Wenning against going ahead with the offer, Der Spiegel said in an excerpt of an article to be published on […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Bayer waiting for Monsanto to engage after spurned bid

Reuters — Monsanto, the world’s largest seed company, has still not opened its books more than two weeks after it rejected Bayer AG’s US$62 billion acquisition offer but left the door open to a possible deal, according to people familiar with the matter. The impasse shows that little progress in negotiations has been made since […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Agrium sees opportunities from major merger talk

Reuters — Agrium, North America’s largest retail seller of products for crop producers, could benefit if some of the biggest makers of seed and agricultural chemicals merge, CEO Chuck Magro said on Wednesday. Responding to a question during a company investor day in Toronto about how possible tie-ups of ChemChina and Syngenta, or of Bayer […] Read more

(BASF.com)

BASF says not backed into corner by Bayer’s Monsanto swoop

Ludwigshafen, Germany | Reuters — BASF, which has so far kept out of a consolidation push among global seeds and pesticides groups, said its business model was not affected by rival Bayer’s plans to buy Monsanto. “We are not backed into a corner by what is happening in the market,” the group’s deputy chief executive […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

EU countries refuse to back new licence for glyphosate

Brussels | Reuters — EU nations refused to back a limited extension of the herbicide glyphosate’s use on Monday, threatening withdrawal of Monsanto’s Roundup and other weed-killers from shelves if no decision is reached by the end of the month. Contradictory findings on carcinogenic risks have thrust the chemical into the centre of a dispute […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Germany to abstain in EU glyphosate vote next week

Berlin | Reuters — Germany will abstain in a European Union vote next week on the continued use of glyphosate in herbicides, because ministries run by different parties remain at odds over the chemical which some experts say could be carcinogenic. Contradictory findings on the carcinogenic risks of glyphosate have thrust the chemical into the […] Read more

(Bayer.com)

Bayer secures loan facility to fund Monsanto bid

Reuters — German drugs and crop chemicals group Bayer, which has made a US$62 billion bid for U.S. seeds company Monsanto, has secured a 60 billion-euro (C$87.75 billion, or US$66.9 billion) loan facility, business journal Handelsblatt reported Thursday. The loan facility can be expanded up to 75 billion euros (C$109.68 billion, or US$83.62 billion), the German […] Read more


(Bayer.com)

Bayer secures loan facility to fund Monsanto bid

Reuters — German drugs and crop chemicals group Bayer, which has made a US$62 billion bid for U.S. seeds company Monsanto, has secured a 60 billion-euro (C$87.75 billion, or US$66.9 billion) loan facility, business journal Handelsblatt reported Thursday. The loan facility can be expanded up to 75 billion euros (C$109.68 billion, or US$83.62 billion), the German […] Read more

(Bayer.com)

Monsanto rejects Bayer bid

Monsanto, the world’s largest seed company, has rejected Bayer AG’s US$62 billion acquisition bid as “incomplete and financially inadequate” but hasn’t slammed the door on further talks. Reuters on Tuesday quoted two unnamed sources as saying Monsanto can see the logic of combining with the German drugs and crop chemicals group, as per Bayer’s proposal […] Read more