Bayer gets nod to buy Monsanto for $66 bn, form largest agrochemical firm

The settlement came together after Justice Department antitrust officials pressed for significant divestitures to remedy the competition problems from combining the two companies

Bayer AG won US antitrust approval for its $66 billion takeover of Monsanto Co., clearing the last major regulatory hurdle to forming the world’s biggest seed and agricultural-chemicals provider after a nearly two-year global review.

The companies reached a settlement with the Justice Department that resolves the government’s concerns that the merger as initially structured would harm consumers and farmers, the U.S. said in a statement Tuesday. The agreement requires the sale of assets to BASF SE that Bayer has previously announced. The divestiture package is worth about $9 billion, the largest in a U.S. merger enforcement case, the government