Dive Brief:
- German chemicals company BASF SA is considering a takeover bid for its competitor Syngenta AG, Reuters sources say.
- The deal is not definite and neither BASF nor Syngenta (nor Monsanto) agreed to comment on the matter.
- BASF corners about 11% of the global crop chemicals market and saw 5.4 billion euros in 2014 sales for its crop chemicals segment.
Dive Insight:
If a deal is officially proposed, BASF could enter a bidding war with Monsanto Co., who submitted a $45 billion takeover bid for Syngenta recently, which Syngenta denied. Monsanto is said to be possibly considering a second bid as well, according to Bloomberg.
Should Monsanto come to an agreement to Syngenta's liking, it is likely that Monsanto would have to divest Syngenta's seed business for antitrust reasons, and BASF could be a potential buyer for that segment if it does not take over Syngenta itself, according to a report.