The European Commission approved on Monday the acquisition of parts of Bayer’s crop-science business by fellow German chemical major BASF.
Bayer had agreed on 26 April to sell further pieces of its crop-science business to the tune of €1.7bn, with BASF having already agreed to acquire a €5.9bn remedy package of crop science business in October last year.
“Since BASF does not currently sell seeds or non-selective herbicides and has only recently started to develop a limited offering in digital agriculture, the Commission did not identify competition concerns with most parts of the transaction,” the EU’s executive body said on Monday.
However, the Commission said that it had concerns about reduced innovation competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) for the development of certain non-selective herbicides, while it was also concerned about potential competition for the production of nematicidal seed treatments.
As a result, BASF has committed to divesting one of its overlapping lines of research for the development of non-selective herbicides and a pipeline nematicidal seed treatment product with branded name Trunemco.
The 28-country bloc’s executive body added that it is still assessing whether BASF has the ability and incentives to run and develop the acquired businesses in order to replicate Bayer as an active competitor in the market, and whether the agreements between Bayer and BASF are in line with the commitments.
“The decision adopted today does not prejudge the outcome of that separate assessment,” it concluded.
By Niall Swan
Source: ICIS News
Ineos Composites is a global manufacturer of unsaturated polyester resins, vinyl ester resins, and gelcoats used in plastic composites for a wide range of applications. The business has combined sales of more than €800 million annually and employs ~900 employees across 17 sites and 3 technology centers in Europe, North and South America, Asia, and the Middle East.
Karen S. Carter will be responsible for driving business and operational performance across the organization with a focus on strengthening customer engagement and relationships, accelerating the commercialization of Dow’s innovation pipeline, and enhancing the Company’s reliability and service to customers.
Katja Wodjereck most recently served at Neste, where she joined as Executive Vice President of the Renewable Road Transportation division in April 2023 and was later appointed Executive Vice President of Renewable Products in November 2023.
