German-based plant breeding company KWS has updated its January offer to buy Bayer AG’s vegetable seed business.
The offer came after Bayer on May 25 assured European regulatory authorities it would divest its Nunhems vegetable seed business in order to complete its merger with Monsanto. U.S. authorities on May 29 also insisted that Bayer divest its vegetable seed business.
The release said KWS issued a non-binding offer to Bayer AG for its global vegetable seed business, which operates primarily under the name Nunhems.
If Nunhems were acquired by KWS, according to the release, farmers and consumers would benefit from the sale to an independent seed company without an agrochemicals division.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice said May 29 it is requiring Bayer AG to divest businesses and assets collectively worth approximately $9 billion in order to proceed with its proposed $66 billion acquisition of Monsanto.
The Department of Justice said in a news release that without the agreed-to divestitures, the proposed merger would likely result in “higher prices, lower quality, and fewer choices” across a wide array of seed and crop protection products.
The release said that under the terms of the proposed settlement, Bayer must divest those Bayer businesses that compete with Monsanto, including Bayer’s cotton, canola, soybean, and vegetable seed businesses.
See related article: Bayer selling vegetable seeds business to complete Monsanto merger.
