MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Bayer reduces value of Monsanto deal by $2.5bn
Frankfurt — German drug maker Bayer has cut the value of its takeover of Monsanto by $2.5bn, which combined with windfalls from asset sales means it may have to raise less from shareholders. The Monsanto deal was now valued at $63.5bn including debt, down from $66bn, after the US seeds giant lowered its financial liabilities, Bayer’s finance chief said on Thursday. The planned acquisition will boost Bayer’s agriculture sales to the same level as its core healthcare business, but the move has not been universally popular among shareholders and has led those with a pharmaceutical focus, in particular, to sell out. Bayer said in September 2016 when the deal was announced that it would raise $19bn worth of fresh equity capital, some of which would be covered by €4bn in mandatory convertible notes issued in November 2016. Analysts had expected Bayer’s cash call to be about $12bn, but estimates have since dropped below $10bn. "We will examine whether and to what extent the equity componen...
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