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The $66 Billion Bayer-Monsanto Merger Just Got a Major Green Light — But Farmers are Terrified

A blockbuster deal between Bayer and Monsanto appears to be moving ahead.

April 9, 2018 | Source: Business Insider | by Dana Varinsky

A blockbuster deal between Bayer and Monsanto appears to be moving ahead.

On Monday, the US Department of Justice approved the German pharmaceutical and chemical group’s bid to buy the US seed giant for more than $60 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported. Bayer agreed to sell off additional assets to alleviate anti-trust concerns.

The two companies first announced the potential deal in September 2016, saying the move would boost agriculture research and innovation.

“By the time 2050 rolls around, the world will have 10 billion people, and the demand for food will double,” Robb Fraley, Monsanto’s chief technology officer, told Business Insider last year. “The whole point here is that the business combination between Monsanto and Bayer will allow the companies to invest in and create more innovation, and it’s going to take a huge amount of innovation in order to double the world’s food supply.”