The Bayer Group is going ahead with its plan to acquire Monsanto. “After almost two years of very diligent work, we have received nearly all the crucial approvals. We anticipate being able to close the acquisition of Monsanto in the near future,” said Werner Baumann, Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer, at the company’s Annual Stockholders’ Meeting held in Bonn, Germany, on Friday.

In connection with the merger control process, Bayer divested businesses with sales of 2.2 billion euros (2017) to BASF for a total base purchase price of 7.6 billion euros. “These divestments were necessary in order to obtain regulatory approval for the transaction,” explained Baumann. “On the other hand, we are acquiring new and very attractive businesses that will take us forward to become a leading agriculture company.”

He considers the acquisition to be as attractive today as it was two years ago. “I’ve been involved in a lot of transactions during my career. Viewed from various aspects and overall, I’m convinced that this acquisition has very great potential for creating value for our company, our stockholders and our customers,” said Baumann. Bayer expects a positive contribution to core earnings per share starting in 2019 with a double-digit percentage from 2021 onward. Adjusted for divestments, the company expects synergies to deliver annual contributions of 1.2 billion U.S. dollars to EBITDA before special items from 2022 onward.

At the same time, Bayer is maintaining a balanced product portfolio. Including Monsanto and adjusted for the divestments, the health and nutrition businesses would have been roughly equal in size in 2017, with total pro forma sales of around 45 billion euros that included sales of some 20 billion euros from the combined Crop Science business.