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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.
The stock had closed at 357.60 francs on Monday.
Syngenta officials did not return a request for comment on
Tuesday morning about whether a sweetened deal from Monsanto
would convince them to agree to discuss a transaction. It had
declined comment late on Monday.
Syngenta had rejected a previous offer and has refused to open
its books to its rival.
The new offer includes an increase in the break-up fee to $3
billion from $2 billion if the transaction is blocked by
regulators or falls apart for other reasons, the person said.
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.
(Reporting by John Miller; Editing by Michael Shields)
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