Bayer To Offer $125 Per Share For Monsanto (MON)

German company Bayer has just upped the ante on its offer for US biotech seeds and pesticides maker Monsanto. The inventor of the painkiller Aspirin, said that over the past several weeks, it had “engaged in private talks with Monsanto”.

In a press release on Thursday, the company stated, “Bayer has raised its all-cash offer to Monsanto shareholders from $122 to $125 per share. Bayer has offered a $1.5 billion reverse antitrust break fee, reaffirming its confidence in a successful closing.”

A merger between the two companies would create a new world leader in seeds, pesticides and genetically modified (GM) crops.
Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said: “We are convinced that this transaction is the best opportunity available to provide Monsanto shareholders with highly attractive, immediate and certain value.”

“Bayer is fully committed to pursuing this transaction.”

The revised offer represents 40 percent premium over Monsanto’s closing share price on May 9, the company said. Bayer originally offered to buy U.S. seeds company Monsanto for $62 billion in late May.

“The Board of Directors of Monsanto will review the proposal, in consultation with its financial and legal advisors,” Monsanto said in a statement. The company said there is “no assurance that a transaction will be entered into or consummated.”
Shares of Monsanto soared more than 3.5 percent higher after the news.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) and have not been compensated for this article.