Bayer’s possible $40bn bid for Monsanto likely to survive regulator
WASHINGTON — Bayer’s possible takeover of Monsanto is not likely to raise significant antitrust hurdles because there is little overlap in the companies’ products, according to analysts and legal experts on Thursday."From the antitrust side, I don’t think there’ll be many issues," said Lutz Krafft, a senior adviser at consulting firm ChemAdvice who once worked at Bayer. "The overlap is very low."A deal would create the world’s largest supplier of seeds and farm chemicals. Monsanto is the world’s largest seed maker and also makes Roundup, its blockbuster herbicide. Bayer, which invented aspirin, makes herbicides, insecticides and fungicides. The main product overlap between Bayer and Monsanto is in weed killers, according to Bloomberg Intelligence chemicals industry analyst Jason Miner, but that is only a small part of Bayer’s portfolio.Still, a Bayer takeover of Monsanto would draw intense scrutiny from global regulators who are confronting an unprecedented wave of consolidation in ...
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