Bayer AG is set to get a so-called statement of objections cataloging potential reasons for the European Union’s antitrust regulator to block its proposed $66 billion takeover of Monsanto Co. as soon as next week, reports Aoife White and Naomi Kresge on Bloomberg.com.
Regulators are looking “very carefully” at the competition issues in the combination of Bayer and Monsanto to make sure farmers still have choice and “affordable prices, both when it comes to seeds and pesticides,” EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said last week. DuPont Co. had to sell most of its global research and development operations to placate EU concerns over its merger with Dow Chemical Co. earlier this year.