I'm skeptical that there is any particular public benefit to allowing the merger, but it seems a bit exaggerated to talk about the new entity owning the market.
In other news, Syngenta (9% of seed market) was recently acquired by ChemChina but that deal is waiting for European authorities.
[1] Biased source: www.gmwatch.org/gm-firms/10558-the-worlds-top-ten-seed-companies-who-owns-nature
[edit: also, is this another "quiet" inversion also? US loses another business for tax purposes?]
But imagine how fun it would be if they spun out the new entity and named it "Agglomerated Monster Agricultural Products".
Is that supposed to sound like a good thing?
I can only imagine the power they will wield in future treaty negotiations against the existence of generic seeds on the market.
See the Haliburton/Baker Hughes merger that was blown up by the US government.
From a merger arbitrage perspective this has been a very interesting deal. This is the 4th proposal Bayer has made for Monsanto and with an all cash offer this might be enough, again assuming government approval.
They've went from an original offer of $122 to a final offer of $128/share. And the deal includes a breakup fee of $2 Billion for Monsanto if the deal falls through.
Monsanto has played this very well but the $128/share offer represents a 21% bump from yesterday's close, which is a bit concerning. With the other offers that have already been presented such a large premium means the market believes that there is a decent chance that this deal doesn't go through, now most likely due to government interference.
The typical remedy for governments who object to mergers is to have a company sell of a division or twp to show that the new company won't be a defacto monopoly.
Unfortunately in this case there is very little overlap between the two companies. This means that there isn't really anything for Bayer or Monsanto to sell off here.
The newly combined company will own the agricultural space, with a seeds and chemicals integrated vertical that would impress Apple.