BASF SE, the German maker of herbicides, is bidding for a package of seed and chemical assets that Bayer AG needs to divest as part of its planned $66 billion takeover of seed maker Monsanto Co., Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Bayer is required to divest parts of its business as condition for the acquisition of Mosanto.
DowDuPont Inc. and Syngenta AG also are said to be competing for Bayer’s canola, cotton and soybean seed varieties, as well as the Liberty herbicide system.
As per the report, BASF sees Bayer’s antitrust-driven asset sales as a way into the seed market at this late stage.
Until recently, BASF’s strategy has been to focus on the firm’s core expertise in chemistry, and was sticking to developing fungicides and crop-protection chemicals. However, Chief Technology Officer Martin Brudermueller reportedly said in June that the company was looking to see whether seeds makes sense.
It was in September last year that Bayer said it agreed to buy Monsanto for $128 per share in an all-cash transaction. In December, Monsanto shareholders approved merger, which is expected to close by the end of 2017.
As per the report, Bayer has added soy to the assets it is divesting to help persuade regulators that competition in that industry would be protected.
Source: RTTNews via Nasdaq
ExxonMobil Corp. (Spring, Tex.) announced the startup of two new chemical production units at its Baytown, Texas, manufacturing facility. The $2 billion expansion is part of ExxonMobil’s long-term growth plans to deliver higher-value products from its U.S. Gulf Coast refining and chemical facilities.
Ineos Enterprises has announced the acquisition of Eramet Titanium & Iron (ETI) from Eramet for €230 million ($245 million). The deal was completed on Sept. 21 and takes immediate effect, following the satisfaction of regulatory approvals.
Arxada has appointed Sanjeev Rastogi as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective immediately. He succeeds Marc Doyle who led Arxada since its foundation and will join the company’s board of directors as a non-executive member.
