EU greenlights Bayer’s takeover of Monsanto

Bayer has won approval from the European Commission for its acquisition of Monsanto as part of a $66 million deal that will create the world’s largest pesticides and seeds business, alone controlling a quarter of the global market.

Final approval from Brussels will be conditional upon the German group divesting around 6 billion euros of assets.

In particular, Bayer has agreed to sell almost all of its global seed and trait research business, including its R&D organisation, to BASF, another large German group and its direct competitor.