, Columnist
Who Needs Shareholders?
At last, investors get a walk-on role in Bayer's Monsanto takeover.
The Bayer CropScience AG crop protection production site in Dormagen, Germany.
Photographer: Jasper Juinen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Some CEOs can go a long way without having to ask for much from their shareholders.
Bayer AG's $63 billion takeover of GM-crops giant Monsanto Co. went down like a lead balloon when the plan emerged in May 2016. Many investors disliked CEO Werner Baumann's decision to tilt the pharma group's strategy towards agriculture. A mega share sale to provide some of the estimated $19 billion of fresh equity required was in the offing.