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00:00Today the commission has decided to give a conditional approval to buy US plans to buy Monsanto under our European merger rules. We were able to do so because of the significant remedies the companies offered which made it which makes our competition concerns in for both these players our major players in CS and pesticide industries in this sector . Fire generates the vast majority of its sales from pesticides and less than a fifth from seats. Monsanto on the other hand generates most of its turnover from seeds. About a third comes from sales of pesticides mostly glyphosate which is the most used pesticide to kill weeds on a worldwide basis. In terms of geographic footprint Bayer makes about 30 percent of its sales in Europe whilst Monsanto makes less than 10 percent of its sales in Europe . So the two companies have different strengths. Also when it comes to their size in Europe that combined. This merger creates the world's largest player active in both seeds and pesticides. Our in-depth investigation raised concerns that the transaction as it was notified would have significantly reduced competition in a number of markets in Europe and globally. It would also significantly have reduced innovation which is very important to develop seeds with a higher yield or pesticide acts that are less toxic less damaging to the environment as such in response to these concerns the parties have submitted a remedy package worth well over 6 billion euros. This remedy package removes all problematic overlaps between the parties activities and it ensures that the number of global players active competing and innovating in seeds and pesticides remains the same before and after the merger .

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European Commission Approves Bayer's Takeover of Monsanto

European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager says the European Union has conditionally approved the Bayer-Monsanto deal and explains the commission's decision process. (Source: Bloomberg)