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Russian antitrust watchdog approves Bayer-Monsanto deal

Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service has granted an approval for the transaction on the acquisition of Monsanto by US’ Bayer

MOSCOW, April 20. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has granted an approval for the merger of German chemical company Bayer and US producer of genetically modified seeds and herbicides Monsanto Company, Igor Artemyev, head of the FAS, said.

"A huge deal on the acquisition of Monsanto by Bayer within the Russian jurisdiction has been completed, the antimonopoly authority has given its consent to this transaction," he said.

In September 2016, Bayer and Monsanto signed a final agreement on the merger. The German company agreed to buy the US herbicide manufacturer and genetically modified seeds Monsanto. The sum of the deal totaled $66 bln.

In November 2016, the FAS arrived at a conclusion when reviewing the deal in Russia that the transaction could create significant risks for competition on the Russian market. The Russian antimonopoly regulator said that it would endorse the Russian part of the deal if Buyer complies with requirements, including the technology transfer in the selection sphere.

The talks on the deal continued in the beginning of the year.

On Friday, Artemyev said that the deal has been approved and Russia will receive modern technologies Bayer and Monsato have been developing for many decades.

Difficult talks

In November 2017, the Russian antitrust watchdog extended consideration of the deal for six months.

In February, Bayer filed a lawsuit with the Moscow Arbitration Court demanding that the FAS decision to extend consideration of the deal should be declared illegal. The third parties include Monsanto, Monsanto International and Monsanto Rus.

On March 14, 2018, the court decided to postpone the preliminary hearing on the lawsuit of the German company until April 11.

In January 2018, head of the FAS Igor Artemyev met with the management of Bayer and the parties decided to continue talks on the deal.