A protester takes part in a March Against Monsanto in Paris in May 2016. The European chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer is buying Monsanto — and dropping the U.S. company's now-controversial name. Francois Mori/AP hide caption
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Francois Mori/AP
A protester takes part in a March Against Monsanto in Paris in May 2016. The European chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer is buying Monsanto — and dropping the U.S. company's now-controversial name.
Francois Mori/AP
Originally, it was just a name — Olga Monsanto's name, to be precise.
Around the turn of the 20th century, she married a man named John Francis Queeny. He named his artificial sweetener company after her. And over decades, that company expanded from the sweetness business into agri-chemicals, where it began to dominate the industry.
These days Monsanto is shorthand for, as NPR's Dan Charles has put it, "lots of things that some people love to hate": Genetically modified crops, which Monsanto invented. Seed patents, which Monsanto has fought to defend. Herbicides such as Monsanto's Roundup, which protesters have sharply criticized for its possible health risks. Big agriculture in general, of which Monsanto was the reviled figurehead.
And soon Monsanto will be no more.
Bayer, the German pharmaceutical giant and pesticide powerhouse, announced in 2016 it would be buying Monsanto in an all-cash deal for more than $60 billion.
Now, as the merger approaches, Bayer has confirmed what many suspected: In the merger, the politically charged name "Monsanto" will be disappearing.
The combined company will be known simply as Bayer, while product names will remain the same.
The move is not exactly a surprise — it makes sense that Bayer might want to weed out some of the intense negative associations associated with the Monsanto brand. In a way, it's an indication of how successful anti-Monsanto protesters have been in shaping public perception.
In the company's latest statement, Bayer implicitly acknowledged how hostile debates over genetically modified crops and other agricultural products have become.
"We aim to deepen our dialogue with society. We will listen to our critics and work together where we find common ground," the chairman of Bayer's board of management, Werner Baumann, said in the statement. "Agriculture is too important to allow ideological differences to bring progress to a standstill. We have to talk to each other. We need to listen to each other. It's the only way to build bridges."
NPR's Charles has reported extensively on genetically modified organisms. As he has noted, the political and social impacts of Monsanto's disappearance might reverberate not just in the U.S., but in Europe.
In the U.S., one question is whether protesters who have joined "Marches Against Monsanto" will "still march if there's no Monsanto," he says.
Meanwhile, in Europe, there has long been broad opposition to genetically modified crops. After Bayer acquires Monsanto, "suddenly, the leading seller of GMOs [will] be European, rather than American," Charles writes. "Would that matter? It's hard to say, but it seems possible."
Bayer's acquisition of Monsanto is part of a larger trend of consolidation in the agriculture industry — already dominated by massive corporations.
Once the merger is complete, on June 7, one of the world's largest pesticide producers will be combined with the world's largest seed company.
By any name, it will be the world's largest seed and ag-chemical company.
FAQs
Chemical Giant Bayer Agrees To Buy Monsanto For $66 Billion
What went wrong with Bayer Monsanto merger? ›
The deal raised hackles in Germany and the U.S. Getting regulatory approvals proved tortuous. U.S. regulators only approved the deal nearly two years later and ordered Bayer to sell $9 billion in assets. It announced 12,000 job cuts, mostly in Germany, and lost $300 million a year in synergies because of divestitures.
Why did Monsanto change its name? ›
In September 2016, German chemical company Bayer announced its intent to acquire Monsanto for US$66 billion in an all-cash deal. After gaining U.S. and EU regulatory approval, the sale was completed on June 7, 2018. The name Monsanto was no longer used, but Monsanto's previous product brand names were maintained.
Does Bayer regret buying Monsanto? ›
While Bayer hasn't publicly expressed regret over its decision to buy Monsanto, the Financial Times called it “one of the most damaging cases of deal disillusion” which left Bayer facing “billions in liabilities from claims that its herbicides Roundup and Ranger Pro can cause cancer”.
Why did Bayer buy out Monsanto? ›
At the time the deal was proposed in 2016, the competitive landscape of the agricultural-science space was shifting dramatically—Dow and DuPont were merging, and so were ChemChina and Syngenta. Bayer wanted to become a bigger player in seeds and genetically modified crops, and Monsanto offered just that.
What is Bayer's worst acquisition? ›
Bayer's woes stem from its 2018 purchase of Monsanto, the maker of Roundup, for $63 billion in cash. Since the deal was announced in 2016, Bayer's shares have plunged more than 60 percent. It is widely considered one of the worst mergers in history.
Who owns Monsanto now? ›
Leverkusen, June 7, 2018 - Bayer successfully completed the acquisition of Monsanto on Thursday. Shares in the U.S. company will no longer be traded on the New York Stock Exchange, with Bayer now the sole owner of Monsanto Company. Monsanto shareholders are being paid 128 U.S. dollars per share.
Does Bill Gates own Monsanto? ›
In 2010, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation bought 500,000 shares of Monsanto, a leading producer of GMOs, worth a total of $23 billion.
Does Monsanto own Coca Cola? ›
Besides the fact that it's well known that Monsanto does not in fact own any of the brands listed in his article, the author discredits himself when he states, “You'll learn the food brands owned by Monsanto…” but in the very next paragraph he then backs off to stating, “some of the brands that Monsanto works with”, ...
Where is Monsanto banned? ›
In France, the Netherlands and Belgium, glyphosate is banned for household use. Germany, the home of chemicals giant Bayer which bought Monsanto in 2018, has banned it in public spaces and plans a total ban at the end of this year. Austria and Luxembourg both tried, but failed, to ban glyphosate.
As long as the product remains available to purchase, consumers may continue using it. Bayer is releasing newer Roundup formulations that don't contain glyphosate. The EPA still maintains that “there are no risks to human health when glyphosate is used in accordance with its current label.”
Is Roundup owned by Bayer? ›
Roundup is among the most widely used weedkillers in the United States, though Bayer phased out sales for home use last year. Bayer has faced extensive litigation over whether Roundup causes cancer since it bought Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018.
Is Bayer in financial trouble? ›
Bayer is currently held back by high debt, bureaucracy, and the expected loss of exclusivity on certain drugs. The firm is also being squeezed by expensive lawsuits related to its Roundup weed killer, which several US juries have deemed to be carcinogenic.
Does Monsanto own all seeds? ›
BASF, Bayer/Monsanto, ChemChina-Syngenta, and Corteva Agriscience are the four big corporations that currently own the rights to over two thirds of the world's seed and pesticide sales.
Why was Bayer sued? ›
A Pennsylvania jury handed down a $2.25 billion verdict against Monsanto and its parent company, Bayer, after determining its Roundup herbicide product caused a man's cancer, the plaintiff's lawyers announced.
Does Monsanto still exist? ›
After being acquired by Bayer in 2018, it ceased to exist as an entity. The Monsanto Chemical Works was founded in 1901 by John F. Queeny (1859–1933), a purchasing agent for a wholesale drug company, to manufacture the synthetic sweetener saccharin, then produced only in Germany.
What was the company Monsanto found guilty of doing? ›
In the 2019 case related to Penncap-M, Monsanto pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense of unlawfully spraying the banned pesticide on corn seed and research crops at its Valley Farm facility on Maui in 2014.
What is the Bayer pharmaceuticals controversy? ›
A jury in a Philadelphia court on Friday ordered Bayer to pay $2.25 billion to a Pennsylvania man who said he developed cancer from exposure to the Roundup weedkiller, based on the chemical glyphosate.
What is Bayer pesticide controversy? ›
Why is it controversial? Glyphosate was declared a probable human carcinogen in 2015 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the World Health Organization. That prompted a flood of lawsuits, many targeting Bayer, which bought Roundup maker Monsanto Co. for $63 billion in 2018.
What is Monsanto guilty of? ›
The jury in Seattle found the company liable for selling polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) used in the Sky Valley Education Center in Monroe, Washington that were not safe and did not contain adequate warnings. The verdict included $73 million in compensatory damages, and $784 million in punitive damages.
