Syngenta ready to acquire disposals from Bayer-Monsanto tie-up – CFO - MergerMArket
Syngenta [VTX:SYNN] will be first in line to acquire assets that will be offloaded to secure competition clearance if Bayer [ETR:BAYN] moves forward with its acquisition of Monsanto [NYSE:MON], Syngenta CFO, John Ramsay told this news service.
Competition authorities will make Bayer divest canola, cotton and potentially also vegetable seeds assets with a total acquisition value worth several billion dollars in the event of a deal, Ramsay said.
Syngenta is keen to acquire the assets should they come up for sale and would be backed with financing from ChemChina, Ramsay said.
In addition to anti-trust issues, opposition from the German pharmaceutical company's shareholders could also stall Bayer's attempts to buy Monsanto, Ramsay said.
Syngenta looked at the anti-trust issues facing various potential combinations during Monsanto's attempts to acquire the Swiss company, Ramsay said. Merger authorities will more likely look at combined market positions in seeds and chemicals for particular crops rather than assessing the market impact of deals on a product-by-product basis, Ramsay said. This would result in a combined Bayer-Monsanto having a stake in certain markets that could be viewed as anti-competitive behavior, he said.