Bayer offers $62 billion to acquire Monsanto

LEVERKUSEN , Germany, May 23 (UPI) -- Germany's Bayer AG said Monday it made an all-cash, $62 billion offer to acquire Monsanto Company.

The $122-per-share offer, 37 percent higher than St. Louis-based Monsanto's May 9 stock closing price of $89.03, "represents a compelling opportunity for Monsanto's shareholders," Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said Monday. The proposal, made May 10, was revealed last week, but the offer price was made public Monday.

The merger of Bayer, a pharmaceuticals and chemicals giant, and Monsanto, a world leader in seeds and agricultural chemicals with a strong presence in North America, would form the world's largest agrochemical company. While the deal still requires regulatory approval, the combined company would include pharmaceutical, consumer health, agriculture and pesticide products.

Monsanto announced Monday its board is "carefully reviewing" Bayer's offer, providing no other comment.

Bayer said the combined strength of the German and American company would generate synergies of $1.5 billion over three years, adding it would finance the transaction with debt and equity. Bayer's debt doubled from 2011 to 2015 as it acquired an assortment of companies.

In 2015, Dow and DuPont combined to form an agribusiness and chemical company in a $130 billion deal.