Monsanto/Bayer remedy assets bidder China Citic Agri Fund drops out – sources

Bayer [ETR: BAYN] has seen China Citic Agri Fund drop out in the second round of bidding in the asset sale process aimed at securing competition clearance of its USD 66bn acquisition of Monsanto [NYSE:MON], a source familiar with the situation and a source briefed on the matter said.

Citic Agri Fund was in consortium with China’s sovereign fund CIC for the bid, but decided to walk away mainly because Monsanto and Bayer will add more assets into the sale package, the source familiar with the situation said.

Citic Agri Fund’s recent USD 1.1bn acquisition of Dow Chemical’s [NYSE: DOW] corn seed business in Brazil also makes it less necessary to pursue Monsanto/Bayer’s divests, the source familiar and the source briefed on the matter said.

The first round of Monsanto/Bayer was due on 28 April, and assets up for grabs included the canola, cotton seed, and carrot/onion seeds businesses as well as licensing rights to LibertyLink, as reported by this news service.

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