German chemical company BASF has acquired significant parts of the seed and non-selective herbicide businesses of life science company Bayer, including cotton in the Americas and Europe.
The all-cash purchase was made for EUR5.9bn (US$7m) and includes Bayer’s global glufosinate-ammonium non-selective herbicide business, its seed businesses for key row crops in select markets: canola hybrids in North America under the InVigor brand, oilseed rape mainly in European markets, cotton in the Americas and Europe, and soybean in the Americas.
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The transaction also includes Bayer’s trait research and breeding capabilities for these crops and the LibertyLink trait and trademark.
“With this investment, we are seizing the opportunity to acquire highly attractive assets in key row crops and markets,” says Dr Kurt Bock, chairman of the board of executive directors of BASF. “It will be a strategic complement to BASF’s well-established and successful crop protection business as well as to our own activities in biotechnology.”
