Sources: Reuters, Syngenta, National Farmers Union
Monsanto announced it is abandoning its pursuit of acquiring Syngenta after the Swiss rival rejected its latest offer, Reuters says.
Monsanto increased its original proposal of roughly $45 billion to about $47 billion this month. It also increased its break-up fee, had antitrust regulators blocked the deal, from $2 billion to $3 billion.
The Board of Syngenta released a statement saying it unanimously rejected Monsanto’s proposal, citing the company did not provide sufficient clarity on four issues:
- Its estimate of total cost and revenue synergies.
- Its assumptions regarding net sales proceeds of seeds and traits.
- The nature and extent of regulatory covenants that it was prepared to offer.
- The assessment of risks and benefits from a tax inversion to the United Kingdom.
According to Reuters, Monsanto will now focus on building its core business and meeting long-term growth objectives. It also said it will resume a share buyback program.
Earlier this month the news outlet reported that BASF had secured financing for a potential takeover of Syngenta, but said it would only submit a bid if Monsanto made a formal offer.
The National Farmers Union (NFU) released a statement saying it was “very pleased” that Monsanto is giving up on the merger.
“American agriculture is already for too concentrated, leaving family farmers and ranchers at a great disadvantage in the marketplace,” says NFU president Roger Johnson. “This is clearly not only good news for family farmers, but for economically competitive markets as well.”
