London/Berlin — Bayer is days away from a transformation into the world’s biggest maker of seeds and agricultural chemicals, saying it plans to close its purchase of Monsanto this week. Once final regulatory approvals are in, the Leverkusen, Germany-based company plans to close the deal on Thursday while raising as much as €26bn in shares and bonds. Bayer will retain its name and drop Monsanto’s. The purchase is part of a multiyear transformation, as Bayer sold off its legacy plastics business and remade itself into a life-science company with half its sales from health and half from agriculture. It’s the third in a series of mega-deals in the industry, following Dow Chemical’s merger with DuPont and China National Chemical’s takeover of Syngenta. "The acquisition of Monsanto is a strategic milestone in strengthening our portfolio of leading businesses in health and nutrition," CEO Werner Baumann said in a statement on Monday. Bayer shares rose 0.8% to €104.2 at 9.04am in Frankfurt....
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