BASF completes vegetable seeds business acquisition from Bayer for $7.6bn

German chemical firm BASF has completed the acquisition of Bayer’s global vegetable seeds business, which operates under the brand name Nunhems.

The closure completes BASF’s acquisition of a range of businesses and assets with combined 2017 sales of €2.2bn, which Bayer offered to divest as part of its takeover of Monsanto.

BASF initially signed the agreement to purchase further businesses and assets from Bayer in April, which built on a deal signed in October last year to acquire significant parts of Bayer’s seed and non-selective herbicide businesses for a sum of €5.9bn.

The all-cash purchase price amounts to a total of €7.6bn following the latest completion.

Bayer’s vegetable seeds business includes 24 crops and approximately 2,600 varieties.

It also includes well-established research and development (R&D) capabilities, as well as breeding systems comprising more than 100 breeding programmes featuring over 15 crops.

The transaction will add a new brand to BASF’s portfolio.

BASF completed the acquisition of various businesses from Bayer earlier this month, which included its canola seeds business in Canada and key field crop seeds such as cotton.

At the time of closing, BASF Agricultural Solutions division president Markus Heldt said: “With strong solutions from seeds to harvest, enabled by even better R&D capabilities and scale, we will increase the competition in the market.

“After months of preparing the seamless transfer of businesses and smooth on-boarding of employees, everybody is keen to finally get started as a new team and with our expanded business and capabilities.”

The acquisition of the vegetable seeds business is anticipated to further enhance BASF’s offering to farmers worldwide.

The deal is expected to complement and strengthen BASF’s seed platform, as well as its expanded portfolio of ‘Agricultural Solutions’ that includes seeds and traits, chemical and biological crop protection solutions, soil management, plant health, pest control and digital farming systems.