European-based Bayer is buying American-based Monsanto for $66 billion. The merger, announced September 14, 2016, combines Bayer’s crop protection line  -- extending across major crops in all key geographies -- with Monsanto’s leadership in seeds and traits and its Climate Corporation platform. The combination makes the new company a market leader in North America, Europe and Asia.  

“The agriculture industry is at the heart of one of the greatest challenges of our time: how to feed an additional three billion people in the world by 2050 in an environmentally sustainable way,” says Liam Condon, member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG and head of the Crop Science Division. “It has been both companies’ belief that this challenge requires a new approach that more systematically integrates expertise across seeds, traits and crop protection including biologicals with a deep commitment to innovation and sustainable agriculture practices.”
    

The combined agriculture business will have its global Seeds & Traits and North American commercial headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, its global Crop Protection and overall Crop Science headquarters in Monheim, Germany, and an important presence in Durham, North Carolina, as well as many other locations throughout the U.S. and around the world. The Digital Farming activities for the combined business will be based in San Francisco, California.
    

From a general horticultural perspective, remember that both companies have seed divisions.  Monsanto’s DeRuiter seeds is well recognized for its greenhouse tomato breeding while Bayer’s Nunhems seeds is respected for its greenhouse cucumber varieties. In fact, Nunhems sells 120 seed varieties across 25 vegetable crops. A year ago, Nunhems bought Seedworks India for its genetics in tomatoes, hot peppers, okra and gourds.  The strategic acquisition signalled Bayer’s intentions for more growth in Asia where more than 50 per cent of the globe’s population resides.   
    

If the deal passes muster with antitrust regulations, the closing is not expected until 2017.