BASF has signed an agreement to acquire significant parts of Bayer’s seed and non-selective herbicide businesses. Bayer sells these assets in the context of its planned acquisition of Monsanto. The all-cash purchase price is €5.9 billion, subject to certain adjustments at closing. The acquisition complements the crop protection business of BASF, strengthening its herbicide portfolio and marking its entry into the seed business with proprietary assets in key agricultural markets.

The assets to be acquired include Bayer’s global glufosinate-ammonium non-selective herbicide business (commercialized under the Liberty^®, Basta^® and Finale^® brands), and its seed businesses for key row crops in select markets: canola hybrids in North America (InVigor^® brand using the LibertyLink^® trait technology), oil-seed rape mainly in European markets, cotton in the Americas and Europe as well as soybean in the Americas. The transaction also includes Bayer’s trait research and breeding capabilities for these crops and the LibertyLink^® trait and trademark.

More than 1,800 commercial, R&D, breeding and production personnel shall transfer to BASF. These employees are primarily located in the United States, Germany, Brazil, Canada, and Belgium. Furthermore, BASF will acquire the manufacturing sites for glufosinate-ammonium production and formulation in Germany, the United States, and Canada, seed breeding facilities in the Americas and Europe as well as trait research facilities in the United States and Europe.

• BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany