长期以来，FMC Corp.的产品包括农药、生物聚合物、营养品和锂，一直被认为是农业市场上一家更大公司的收购目标， 根据 SeekingAlpha.com 上的一篇文章. A takeover of FMC has become more likely as the company has transformed away from lower growth commodity businesses and toward higher-growth businesses. With most major agricultural chemical/seeds companies attempting to merge, it is without question that FMC’s takeover potential remains intact whether regulators approve the multiple mergers among many of the largest companies in the agricultural industry.
考虑到这样的背景，最近的金融媒体报道表明德国公司巴斯夫在过去一年考虑收购 FMC 也就不足为奇了。 2017 年 3 月下旬，有消息称巴斯夫正在考虑收购 FMC 以进入仿制药业务，但该公司推迟了近期收购 FMC 的任何计划，因为它将寻找机会收购由 FMC 剥离的资产试图获得批准其未决合并的主要农业公司。提醒读者，此类未决农业公司合并包括：1) Bayer AG’s acquisition of Monsanto; 2）一个 杜邦与陶氏化学合并 合并后的公司将拆分为三个独立的公司；和 3) China National Chemical Corp.’s acquisition of Syngenta.
据媒体报道，鉴于巴斯夫是唯一一家未参与并购的大型农业公司，巴斯夫高管一直在讨论如何应对上述三起未决的大型农业公司并购案。巴斯夫讨论的一个选择是收购 FMC。尽管巴斯夫认真考虑过收购 FMC，但该公司认为在考虑上述合并公司准备出售的数十亿美元资产之前，应该将此类收购的想法搁置一旁克服欧洲和美国的反垄断监管问题。
换句话说，巴斯夫将考虑购买上述三笔并购中的废弃资产，然后重新考虑收购富美实的想法。与其主要作物保护竞争对手相似，巴斯夫的总体战略是开发可高价销售的受专利保护的创新化合物。评论员指出，巴斯夫收购 FMC 是有意义的，因为专利保护失效的更便宜的农药将更快地渗透到非洲和中国等新兴市场，而在这些市场，大多数农民买不起尖端的高价作物化学品。例如，受专利保护的农产品的价格可能是非专利产品的数十倍。 FMC，主要使用非专利活性成分或获得新物质的权利，并专注于改进化合物的应用（确定新作物或地区）。
FMC did not comment on any potential overtures from BASF, while BASF indicated that it was continuously evaluating acquisitions and/or divestitures to improve its product portfolio. Not only would an acquisition of FMC allow BASF to push further into the off-patent pesticides market, the company would also gain from FMC’s market insight to better understand industry trends of bypassing wholesale trade and selling directly to growers with the help of digital tools.
In addition, FMC’s sales to farmers would allow BASF to spread the costs of new direct-marketing channels across a broader revenue base. An acquisition of FMC would not come cheap, however, as BASF would have to pay a sizeable premium above FMC’s near $8 billion market capitalization. By acquiring FMC, however, BASF’s entry into generic agricultural chemicals would serve as a strategy alternative to the above-noted merging companies, which are merging seed and crop protection product offerings. To date, BASF has avoided acquiring seed assets and pursued research into plant characteristics such as drought tolerance, which it sells or licenses out to seed breeders. Although BASF has refrained from announcing a significant acquisition, analysts and investors remain concerned that the company will not be adequately able to compete with the merged companies identified above.