Monsanto has refused to pay its $62 billion bid
Monsanto has refused to pay its $62 billion bid
Monsanto (mon.n), the world's largest seed company, on Tuesday rejected a $62 billion offer from BayerAG (BayerAG) in Germany, arguing that the plan was "not perfect enough to be financially appropriate". But the company said it was open to further negotiations. Reuters first reported monsanto's decision earlier on Tuesday. The decision puts bayer under pressure to decide whether to raise the offer, although some shareholders have criticized the company for saying the offer of $122 a share is already too high. Other options include giving up or launching a hostile bid. Monsanto shares closed up 3.11 percent at $109.30 in New York on Tuesday, but still far below bayer's bid, underscoring some investors' skepticism about the deal. Bayer shares closed up 3.23 percent at 87.15 euros in Frankfurt. "We believe that the merger strategy will bring great benefits to the grower and society as a whole, and we have long respected bayer's business," monsanto chief executive HughGrant said in a statement. "However, the current proposal substantially underestimate the value of monsanto, nor against takeover may lead to some of the financing and regulatory execution risk proposed solution or provide guarantee fully," he added. It is not clear how much money monsanto has in mind. Several analysts have suggested that bayer would have to pay a much higher price for reaching a deal. "We think the $122 per share price is unlikely to be a deal, and we still believe that the $135 price is more promising," jpmorgan analysts wrote in a research note last week. According to Thomson Reuters data, bayer for monsanto offer are the highest on record all cash offer, beyond the brewer anheuser-busch inbev (InBevSA) in June 2008 to trade anheuser-busch (anheuser-busch) of a proposed $60.4 billion acquisition price. Bayer responded that its $122 per share offer was "sufficient and valuable" to monsanto shareholders, but it wanted to have a constructive discussion with monsanto.
