MON Monsanto Company (delisted)

By Brent Kendall and Jacob Bunge 

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department has decided to allow Bayer AG's megadeal to acquire Monsanto Co. after the companies pledged to sell off additional assets to secure government antitrust approval, according to people familiar with the matter.

An agreement in principle between the companies and the department, brokered in recent days, marked a breakthrough in the U.S. merger review process, which had remained in limbo because of Justice Department concerns about the deal.

Bayer Chief Executive Werner Baumann and Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant recently met with Justice officials in Washington to help secure an agreement, people familiar with the matter said.

The companies announced the deal in September 2016 to create a new agricultural powerhouse. Germany's Bayer, a pharmaceutical and chemical conglomerate, is a leading player in the pesticide industry, while Monsanto, based in St. Louis, is a market leader on seeds and crop genes. The deal will make Bayer the world's biggest supplier of pesticides and seeds for farmers.

Write to Brent Kendall at brent.kendall@wsj.com and Jacob Bunge at jacob.bunge@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 09, 2018 14:05 ET (18:05 GMT)

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