Law 360 published an article by Allen Grunes and Maurice Stucke, “The Flawed European Remedy To Bayer-Monsanto Deal.”
Farmers in the United States have been battered for years by the rising costs of seeds and chemicals. It looks like things are only going to get worse. There were news reports last week that the U.S. Justice Department has reached an “agreement in principle” to give the green light to Bayer AG’s acquisition of rival Monsanto Co.
Bayer is the second largest supplier of pesticides worldwide, and is an important global seed company. Monsanto is the world’s largest supplier of seeds and sells the world’s most used pesticide. The combination of these two giants would violate U.S. antitrust laws on multiple counts. The two companies have reached an agreement on remedies with the European Commission. The European remedy allows the acquisition to proceed with Bayer divesting overlapping assets and transferring “digital farming” technology. Subject to commission approval, German chemical giant BASF will acquire the divestitures and technology.
The details of the “agreement in principle” between Bayer, Monsanto and the Justice Department are not public. It is a safe bet, however, that the Justice Department is poised to sign on to the European deal, perhaps with a few tweaks. Even so, the Bayer-Monsanto transaction is likely to harm U.S. farmers. This is true regardless of what sweeteners the companies have decided to throw in to secure Justice Department approval.
The article is available here (subscription required).