To finance Monsanto acquisition, Bayer sells Covestro stake for $2.64 bn

Pharmaceutical group Bayer has sold a further stake in plastics company Covestro for 2.2 billion euros ($2.64 billion), placing a holding of 14.2 per cent via an accelerated book-building process.

Covestro was spun off from Bayer in 2015, and Bayer said this latest sale marks the start of the full separation from its former unit.

Bayer, which is buying seed maker Monsanto, raised 1.8 billion euros ($2.15 billion) in January by selling a 10.4 per cent stake in Covestro.

The latest sale of $28.8 million shares to institutional investors valued Covestro stock at 75.50 euros apiece, Bayer said on Friday, bringing the total gains from the sale of Covestro shares to more than 9 billion euros.

"The proceeds from the sale are higher than expected. This will be considered when determining the size of the share capital increase to finance the proposed acquisition of Monsanto," finance chief Johannes Dietsch said in a statement.

Bayer clears EU hurdle for $62.5-bn takeover of Monsanto with BASF sale

German conglomerate Bayer won EU antitrust approval on Wednesday for it's $62.5 billion buys of US peer Monsanto, the last of a trio of mega-mergers that will reshape the agrochemicals industry.

The tie-up is set to create a company with control of more than a quarter of the world's seed and pesticides market.

Driven by shifting weather patterns, competition in grain exports and a faltering global farm economy, Dow and Dupont, and ChemChina and Syngenta had earlier led the wave of consolidation in the sector.

Environmental and farming groups have opposed all three deals, worried about their power and their advantage in digital farming data, which can tell farmers how and when to till, sow, spray, fertilise and pick crops based on algorithms.

The European Commission said Bayer addressed its concerns with its offer to sell a swathe of assets to boost rival BASF confirming a Reuters story on February 28.

Bayer to win EU approval for $62.5-bn Monsanto deal: Sources

German drug and crop chemicals maker Bayer is set to win conditional European Union antitrust approval for its $62.5 billion bid for world No. 1 seed company Monsanto, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The takeover, one of a trio of major deals in the agribusiness sector in recent years, would create a company with a share of more than a quarter of the world's seed and pesticides market.

Shifting weather patterns, competition in grain exports and a souring global farm economy have spurred consolidation among the major players, triggering protests from environmental and farming groups worried about their market power.

Bayer has already pledged to sell certain seed and herbicide assets for 5.9 billion euros ($7.2 billion) to BASF to address EU regulatory concerns.