Bayer and Monsanto sign merger agreement

The Bayer and Monsanto merger agreement was signed Wednesday, with Bayer paying $128 per share to acquire Monsanto.

“We are pleased to announce the combination of our two great organizations," Bayer AG CEO Werner Baumann said. "This represents a major step forward for our Crop Science business and reinforces Bayer’s leadership position as a global innovation driven Life Science company with leadership positions in its core segments, delivering substantial value to shareholders, our customers, employees and society at large.”

The merger brings together Monsanto's seeds and traits and digital agriculture solutions and Bayer's crop protection product line. Monsanto shareholders must still approve the merger agreement. The two companies anticipate a successful closing of the agreement by the end of 2017.

“We are entering a new era in agriculture – one with significant challenges that demand new, sustainable solutions and technologies to enable growers to produce more with less," Monsanto President and CEO Hugh Grant said. "This combination with Bayer will deliver just that – an innovation engine that pairs Bayer’s crop protection portfolio with our world-class seeds and traits and digital agriculture tools to help growers overcome the obstacles of tomorrow. Together Monsanto and Bayer will build on our proud tradition and respective track records of innovation in the agriculture industry, delivering a more comprehensive and broader set of solutions to growers."