Monsanto shareholders OK Bayer merger

Deal could close by 2017's end

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Monsanto shareholders voted to approve the agribusiness company's proposed merger with Bayer at a special meeting Tuesday morning.

Creve Coeur, Mo.-based Monsanto reported that approximately 99 percent of votes cast supported the acquisition by the German pharmaceutical company, which was originally announced in September.

The vote assures shareholders of receiving $128 per share upon completion of the merger. Shareholders also supported certain compensation for executives related to the merger's completion.

Executives from both companies have touted the merger as a way to provide farmers with an improved innovation pipeline needed to address agricultural issues ranging from climate change to food scarcity.

The deal is projected to close by the end of 2017 and still needs to be approved by anti-trust regulators. Monsanto Chairman and CEO Hugh Grant said Bayer already has made regulatory filings in the United States and intends to do so in Europe in early 2017. Brazil, India and China represent other key markets where the deal must be upheld, Grant said.

Others, however, have argued that a finalized merger would consolidate too much market share within one company.

'The existence of such a powerful player would substantially harm both farmers and the environment by decreasing competition and innovation, resulting in increased costs, and allowing for greater corporate control over farmers' planting choice,” the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental organization, said in a statement.