Syngenta seen opening up after source says Monsanto boosts offer (can you say 'anti-trust'?)

Syngenta AG, the Swiss agricultural chemicals maker, was seen opening up more than 7 percent after a source said Monsanto Co. had sweetened its takeover offer, according to premarket indicators in Zurich.

U.S.-based Monsanto increased its offer to buy Syngenta to around $47 billion, or 470 Swiss francs ($503.70) per share from 449 francs per share previously, a person familiar with the matter said on Monday.

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Monsanto is aiming to combine its world-leading seeds business with Syngenta's own seeds and pesticides operations, contending the deal will make both firms more efficient by developing seeds and pesticides in tandem and integrating sales and distribution strategies.

Syngenta has so far argued the deal faces tough regulatory hurdles that Monsanto has not addressed and that the 449 franc offer undervalues the company.

"The biggest concern to Syngenta seems to be that the proposed follow-on disposal of Syngenta’s seeds business and overlapping herbicides is (tackling) anti-trust issues from a horizontal perspective only," Merrill Lynch wrote in a research note after reports on Monday of the higher offer.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/25/us-syngenta-ag-monsanto-offer-idUSKCN0QU0J420150825