After Bayer AG’s initial bid for Monsanto Co. was rebuffed, the company has increased their offer to $125 a share in cash.
Bayer had initially offered to pay $122 a share in a deal that valued Monsanto, the world’s biggest producer of genetically modified seeds, at $62 billion, according to Agri-Pulse.
St. Louis-based Monsanto confirmed it had received the non-binding proposal and its board of directors will review the offer.
“We are convinced that this transaction is the best opportunity available to provide Monsanto shareholders with highly attractive, immediate and certain value,” Werner Baumann, Bayer’s chief executive, said in a statement. “Bayer is fully committed to pursuing this transaction.”
Germany-based Bayer also proposed a $1.5 billion breakup fee if a merger doesn’t work out, Agri-Pulse reported.
Bayer said it “remains confident in its ability to obtain all necessary regulatory approvals in a timely manner given complementary geographic and product portfolios.”
The merger would create an industrial and agricultural power with annual sales of $67 billion, Agri-Pulse said.