Reuters — As seed and chemical maker Monsanto woos Swiss ag chem firm Syngenta, Monsanto also is trying to win over consumers in key international markets, rolling out social media and marketing campaigns. U.S.-based Monsanto said it has recently launched interactive consumer-oriented websites in China, France, India, Argentina and Brazil, in addition to a lead […] Read more
As it woos Syngenta, Monsanto mounts campaign to combat critics
Monsanto’s Syngenta gambit seen hinging on sale of seed businesses
London/Frankfurt | Reuters –– U.S. seeds giant Monsanto is trying to line up buyers for assets worth up to US$8 billion to appease competition authorities before making a fresh takeover approach for Swiss rival Syngenta, possibly within three weeks, industry sources said. Monsanto is expected to tap German chemicals group BASF, an existing joint venture […] Read more
Major Syngenta shareholders would back Monsanto bid, if higher
London | Reuters — Major investors in Swiss agrochemicals firm Syngenta are confident a deal with Monsanto will come off if the U.S. firm ups its initial US$45 billion bid by at least 10 per cent. After rebuffing the takeover offer announced earlier Friday, Syngenta said the bid fundamentally undervalued the firm and that its […] Read more
Monsanto, Syngenta hire advisors on possible takeover
London/Frankfurt | Reuters –– Agricultural companies Monsanto and Syngenta are working with investment banks on a takeover deal that would create an industry behemoth with combined sales of more than US$31 billion, three sources familiar with the matter said. Swiss crop chemicals maker Syngenta is working with Goldman Sachs to assess the merits of a […] Read more
Monsanto reported offering again to buy Syngenta
Reuters — Monsanto, the world’s largest seed company, has again approached Switzerland’s Syngenta in recent weeks with an offer to buy the company, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. However, the Swiss crop chemical maker has concerns, as the merger would raise antitrust issues, Bloomberg said. The two companies may again fail to […] Read more
Argentine farmers say Monsanto soy contract breaks local law
Buenos Aires | Reuters — Argentine farm groups on Wednesday asked soy export companies to stop inspecting cargoes for bootlegged biotechnology at the behest of U.S. seed company Monsanto, the latest move in a long conflict between the country’s farmers and Monsanto. Growers in Argentina, the world’s top exporter of soymeal livestock feed, have signed […] Read more
Chinese citizens sue government over transparency on Roundup
Beijing | Reuters –– Three Chinese citizens are taking China’s Ministry of Agriculture to court in a bid to make public a toxicology report supporting the approval of Monsanto’s popular herbicide, Roundup, 27 years ago. The case, a rare example of a lawsuit by private citizens against the Chinese government, comes amid renewed attention on […] Read more
Forage seed industry wants Western Canada to be a GM alfalfa-free zone
Seed growers say keeping GM alfalfa out of Western Canada would save current export markets and open the door to additional sales
Reading Time: 3 minutes Alfalfa seed growers in Alberta could stand to gain a huge market advantage over their neighbours to the south — if the industry can keep GM alfalfa out of Western Canada. “We’ve got access to potential market gains by picking up markets that are possibly going to be lost in the States,” said Heather Kerschbaumer, […] Read more
Scientist defends WHO group report linking glyphosate to cancer
Reuters — A World Health Organization group’s controversial finding that the world’s most popular herbicide is “probably carcinogenic to humans” was based on a thorough scientific review and is a key marker in ongoing evaluations of the product, the scientist who led the study said Thursday. “There were several studies. There was sufficient evidence in […] Read more
Monsanto seeks retraction for report linking herbicide to cancer
Reuters — Monsanto, maker of the world’s most widely used herbicide, Roundup, wants an international health organization to retract a report linking the product’s chief ingredient to cancer. The company said Tuesday that the report, issued on Friday by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), was biased and contradicts regulatory […] Read more
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