The European Commission will block the planned merger of the pharmaceutical and agrochemical giants Bayer and Monsanto unless significant concessions are made, according to reports.
The Commission has issued formal objections to German company Bayer’s proposed buyout of United States company Monsanto for about $66 billion (€56bn), the news website Politico reported on 19 December. The article suggested that the merger may be blocked unless the two companies spin-out some of their activities to prevent an unfair consolidation of the pesticides market.
Environmental campaigners and green politicians, who are opposed to the consolidation of power the merger would bring about, have said they hope that the Commission’s objections will stop the merger from happening. However, Bayer has already sold off some parts of its business in preparation, so it could well be willing to meet any additional demands.
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