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May 24, 2016

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ByLindaA.Johnsonand Matthew Perrone AssociatedPress AmergerbetweenBayer and Monsanto would put together two giant chemi- cal makers, one focused on plants and another that also makes products for people and animals. Here's a look at their products, which have more than $65 billion in total annual revenue. Bayer Bayer AG, based in Leverkusen, Germany, sells a broad range of products beyond its nearly 120-year- old aspirin, including pre- scription and over-the-coun- ter medicines for people, vaccines and drugs for pets and livestock, and seeds and chemicals for farmers and home gardeners. Prescription drugs Bayer is a leader in birth control and hemophilia treatments. Its medicines include contraceptives pills Yasmin, Yasminelle and Yaz; Mirena and Skyla in- trauterine devices; Essure, a permanent contraceptive that blocks the fallopian tubes; hemophilia treat- ments Kogenate and Koval- try; cancer drugs Nexavar, Stivarga and Xofigo; antibi- otics Avelox and Cipro, erec- tile dysfunction pill Levitra, Betaseron for multiple scle- rosis, Desonate for eczema in babies, and Adempas for high blood pressure in lungs. With U.S. partners, Bayer jointly markets Eylea, an injected drug for vision- destroying macular degen- eration, and Xarelto, the top seller among new drugs for preventing heart attacks and strokes. Consumer health Bayer is No. 2 globally in sales of nonprescrip- tion drugs and other health products. Besides its iconic aspirin, those include Aleve pain reliever, One A Day, Flintstones and other vi- tamin brands; Alka-Selt- zer and Rennie for heart- burn and upset stomach, laxatives MiraLax and Phil- lips' Colon Health, cold sore treatment Campho-Phe- nique, Skinoren for acne in women, Canesten for vagi- nal yeast and other fungal infections, eczema cream Advantan, nonprescription Claritin allergy pills, Afrin decongestant spray, Copper- tone sun care products and Dr. Scholl's foot care items. Pet and livestock medicines Bayer sells Advantage and Advantix, a line of top- ical flea and tick protec- tion for dogs and cats, plus shampoos and defoggers; Seresto, flea-and-tick col- lars for dogs and cats; anti- biotic Baytril for cats, dogs and farm animals; quellin, a prescription pain and in- flammation drug for dogs; Drontal and Profender for killing worms in dogs and cats; Veraflox, for treating skin, wound and some in- ternal infections in dogs and cats, and Zelnate, an immune-system stimulator for fighting respiratory dis- ease in cattle. Plant products These include Bayer Ad- vanced and Natria home garden products to control weeds, pests and flower and vegetable diseases, plus nu- merous farm products, in- cluding Liberty herbicide and a related treatment to protect crops, Corvus her- bicide, Poncho and Votivo biological insecticide and fungicide seed treatments, and new insecticide Siv- anto, which helps protect beneficial insects such as pollinators. Monstanto Monsanto Co., based in St. Louis, has dominated the market for genetically enhanced seeds for more than a decade, particularly in the U.S., where every- thing from corn flakes to soda and beef are often pro- duced from crops that use technology first developed by Monsanto. Seeds Monsanto makes bio- tech-enhanced seeds, for corn, soybeans, cotton and other agricultural staples. These yield-boosting seeds are designed to resist in- sects and tolerate herbi- cides, allowing famers to wipe out weeds without harming crops. Some of the company's best-sell- ing products, including corn seeds, feature extra traits to help crops weather droughts. The company also sells conventional seeds for to- matoes, carrots and on- ions. Herbicides Monsanto sells herbi- cides for killing weeds on farms, golf courses, gardens and other green spaces. Its chief product is decades-old weed killer Roundup. It dominated Monsanto's business when it primarily sold chemicals, and remains a billion-dol- lar seller annually, though sales have declined in re- cent quarters due to ge- neric competition and safety concerns of Euro- pean authorities. Seed traits Monsanto also licenses traits of its genetically mod- ified seeds to other compa- nies for sale under their own brands. MERGER Bayer,Monsantocouldcombineplant,pet,peopleproducts ASSOCIATEDPRESSPHOTOS Bottles of Bayer aspirin appear on display on a shelf in the employee shop at the Bayer Pharmaceuticals facility in Whippany, N.J. Bottles of Roundup herbicide, a product of Monsanto, are displayed on a store shelf in St. Louis. An employee stocks products in the employee shop at the Bayer Pharmaceuticals facility in Whippany, N.J. German drug and chemicals company Bayer AG announced Monday that it has made a $62billion offer to buy U.S.-based crops and seeds specialist Monsanto. Bags of Dekalb corn seed, a Monsanto brand, lie stacked and ready for planting in Auburn, Ill. By David McHugh AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, GERMANY Bayer wants to buy Mon- santo for $62 billion, hook- ing up the German chemi- cal and drug company with the St. Louis-based pro- ducer of seeds and weed- killers. The deal would create a global giant in agriculture technology touching much of global food production through the development of seeds and pesticides. Here's a look at the deal and what it would means for farmers, works, consum- ers and investors. Q: Who want to buy whom? A: Bayer is offering to acquire Monsanto, which makes seeds for fruits, veg- etables, corn, soybeans and cotton, as well as weed- killer Roundup. It has some 21,183 employees world- wide, 10,277 in the U.S. in 33 states. Bayer, headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany, em- ploys some 117,000 people worldwide. It makes phar- maceuticals, over the coun- ter medicines such as Aleve and Alka-Seltzer, and farm chemicals. Bayer said Monday the all-cash offer values shares of Monsanto at $122 each. That compares with a clos- ing price Friday of $101.52 and is 37 percent higher than the closing price of $89.03 on May 9, the day before Bayer made a writ- ten proposal to Monsanto. Q: Why would Bayer want to buy Monsanto? A: The takeover would create the world's larg- est seed and farm chemi- cal company with a strong presence spread across the U.S., Europe and Asia. Bayer says that combin- ing research and develop- ment as well as product lines would make the two companies worth more to- gether than separately. The combined company would have higher earnings and save $1.5 billion a year by eliminating overlapping functions and overhead. They would combine dif- ferent regional strengths: Monsanto is big in the United States, while Bayer has a larger presence in Eu- rope and Asia. Bayer says the world needs more productive ag- riculture to meet the food needs of a growing world population. Monsanto says it's considering the offer. Q: So why are investors skeptical? Bayer shares slumped 5.7 percent Mon- day, off 12.5 since Bayer con- firmed it was in talks with Monsanto. A: One reason: Part of the deal will be paid for by issuing new shares. Share- holders either pay to sign up or see their share of earn- ings shrink through dilu- tion of their holdings. Another reason: some investors may have bought Bayer due to its primary fo- cus on pharmaceuticals and might not be so interested in getting a stake in a seed company. Q: Why is that a prob- lem? A: A more complex com- pany with a wider range of business operations can trade at lower prices than a more focused one. "What we find is that larger firms and more diversified firms are valued less than a sin- gle highly specialized firm," says Michael H. Grote, pro- fessor of finance at Frank- furt School of Finance & Management and an ex- pert on mergers and acqui- sitions. "In general mar- ket participants think the more diversified the firm, the harder it is to manage." Not only that. Buying an outside business sends a subtle message that the company's existing opera- tions are "less profitable," Grote said. He said the 12 percent drop in Bayer shares was larger than the usual 4-5 percent dip seen after a takeover announcement. Q: Anything else? A: Yes. There's the fact that some people don't like Monsanto's business in selling genetically modi- fied crop seeds. Such seeds have been blocked in some countries and been a sub- ject of anxiety among some consumers and the target of environmental activists. Theplusesofthedealmust have seemed stronger to BayerCEOWernerBaumann. But "it's on the negative side, if you add up the pluses and minuses," said Grote. Q: Does this mean Bayer will now try to sell genet- ically modified Monsanto crop seeds in Europe? A: Unlikely. Political re- sistance to genetically mod- ified crops remains strong in Europe. Monsanto has only one product there, a pest- resistance variety of maize, and has given up on applica- tions for more after officials failed to act on them despite approval by the European Food Safety Authority. Liam Condon, head of Bayer's crop science divi- sion, said that "the whole discussion is a political one and we don't see that changing anytime soon." Q: What's going to hap- pen to people who work for Monsanto? A: Bayer says the head of- fice for the combined seed business will be in St. Louis, Missouri, where Monsanto is headquartered. But some jobs probably have to be lost somewhere to achieve the advertised savings, says Grote. Neither company offered any detail on that issue. Chief Finance Officer Jo- hannes Dietsch mentioned marketing and research and development as two ar- eas where synergies could be found. Q: What's it mean for Monsanto's headquarters community? A: The St. Louis region has lost several other corpo- rate headquarters to merg- ers in recent years. Monsan- to's corporate office for all phases of its business is in one St. Louis suburb, Creve Coeur, and its research hub is in another, Chesterfield. All told, the company em- ploys more than 5,000 work- ers in the St. Louis region. St. Louis was once home to several Fortune 500 com- panies, but mergers in re- cent years have changed that. The most significant corporate loss was in 2008, when Belgium-based InBev bought Anheuser-Busch, the beer maker long iden- tified with St. Louis. Q: What would the deal mean for farmers? A: Bayer says that its cus- tomers will get a broader range of products such as seeds and pesticides that work better together. 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