欧盟委员会周三表示，它已批准拜耳收购孟山都，条件是剥离巴斯夫已同意购买的种子、杀虫剂和数字农业包。
Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “We have approved Bayer’s plans to take over Monsanto because the parties’ remedies, worth well over €6 billion, meet our competition concerns in full. Our decision ensures that there will be effective competition and innovation in seeds, pesticides and digital agriculture markets also after this merger.
In particular, we have made sure that the number of global players actively competing in these markets stays the same. That is important because we need competition to ensure farmers have a choice of different seed varieties and pesticides at affordable prices. And we need competition to push companies to innovate in digital agriculture and to continue to develop new products that meet the high regulatory standards in Europe, to the benefit of all Europeans and the environment.”
该决定遵循 深入审查 of Bayer’s proposed acquisition of Monsanto. The transaction creates the largest global integrated seed and pesticide player.
As part of its in-depth investigation, the Commission has assessed more than 2,000 different product markets and reviewed 2.7 million internal documents. It concluded that the transaction as notified would have significantly reduced competition on price and innovation in Europe and globally on a number of different markets. The Commission also had concerns that it would have strengthened Monsanto’s dominant position on certain markets, where Bayer is an important challenger of Monsanto.
拜耳提交的承诺全面解决了这些竞争问题：
- They remove all of the parties’ existing overlaps in seed and pesticide markets, where concerns were raised, by divesting the relevant Bayer businesses and assets.
- They cover Bayer’s global R&D organization for seeds and traits as well as Bayer’s research activities to develop a challenger product to Monsanto’s glyphosate. They also cover certain Monsanto assets, which in future would have competed with a Bayer seed treatment against nematode worms.
- 最后，拜耳承诺为其整个全球数字农业产品组合和管道产品授予许可，以确保在这个新兴市场上的持续竞争。
On this basis, the Commission concluded that the divestment package enables a suitable buyer to sustainably replace Bayer’s competitive effect in these markets and continue to innovate, for the benefit of European farmers and consumers.
Bayer has proposed BASF as purchaser for the remedy package. The Commission’s assessment is ongoing whether a) the divestiture to BASF meets all purchaser requirements, and b) whether it creates any problematic overlaps or raises other competition concerns (see further below).
拜耳和孟山都只有在委员会完成对拟议买家的审查后才能实施交易。
The Bayer/Monsanto transaction is the third in a row in the seeds and pesticides sector. In line with its case practice, the Commission assesses transactions taking place in the same industry according to the so-called “priority rule” – first come, first served. The assessment of the merger between Bayer and Monsanto has been based on the market situation following the 陶氏/杜邦合并 和 中国化工/先正达合并, 考虑到两种情况下的补救措施。
谈到种子和杀虫剂，当然还有超越竞争政策的其他重要问题，包括消费者保护、食品安全以及确保环境和气候达到最高标准。在合并之后，关于这些事项的严格的国家和欧洲监管标准将与之前一样严格，并继续适用（见下文）。
阅读更多.
资源： 欧盟委员会