Bayer Proposes to Acquire Monsanto

American food production is increasingly dominated by a few trans-national conglomerates which have no commitment to any country, let alone to the welfare of the American people.

“Conservatism” has somehow come to support the evolution of competitive markets into uncompetitive markets in which every industry is dominated by a few corporate giants and the huge bureaucracies with which they are symbiotic.

Big Wildlife exhibits all these symptoms.

NOTE: post initially appeared on WSJ.com on May 19,2016

Takeover deal, which could be valued at $42 billion, would create world’s largest seed-and-pesticide company

Bayer AG has approached Monsanto Co. about a takeover that would fuse two of the world’s largest suppliers of crop seeds and pesticides, the companies said.

Details of the offer couldn’t be learned and it was unclear whether Monsanto would be receptive to it. Should there be a deal, it could be valued at more than $42 billion, which is Monsanto’s current market capitalization.

Monsanto in a statement confirmed the approach, reported earlier Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal, saying the company had received “an unsolicited, non-binding proposal” for a potential acquisition. Monsanto’s board of directors is reviewing the proposal, and the company said there was no assurance a deal would happen.

Bayer early Thursday confirmed that executives from the German company had met with executives of Monsanto to discuss a possible acquisition, saying a tie-up would “create a leading integrated agriculture business.”

Bayer supervisory board member Reiner Hoffmann said later Thursday that Monsanto “is a complementary business. There will be synergies.”

Should the bid succeed, a combination of the companies could boast $67 billion in annual sales and create the world’s largest seed and crop-chemical company. A successful deal would ratchet up consolidation in the agricultural sector, after rivals Dow ChemicalCo., DuPont Co. and Syngenta AG struck their own deals over the past six months.

But there is no guarantee regulators would bless such a tie-up, and if Monsanto isn’t on board, winning regulatory approval could be an even greater challenge. Indeed, people familiar with the matter have questioned whether Monsanto would be interested in such a deal.

Absorbing St. Louis-based Monsanto, the world’s top seed company in terms of sales, would push Bayer far more deeply into agriculture, which currently accounts for about 22% of the German company’s business. Monsanto’s $15 billion in seed and herbicide sales could make agriculture about 40% of the combined entity’s business, with the rest coming from pharmaceuticals and consumer health products.