The Bayer—Monsanto Merger: GMOs and 'Science for a Better Life'

This case allows students to explore the economic, ethical and legal challenges faced by agri-business companies, after several decades of promoting and selling Genetically Modified (GM) crops. Starting in the 1980s, the widespread introduction of GM crops was justified as a way to reduce pesticide use and increase yield, benefiting both farmers and consumers. These benefits had only partially materialized. As the agribusiness market entered yet another wave of consolidation in 2016, Bayer’s $66 billion cash bid for Monsanto was stalled by a long and arduous anti-trust review by European regulators. Public protests of the proposed merger were persistent and highly visible, and mounting evidence linked two of Bayer and Monsanto’s key products — neonicotinoid (“neonic”) pesticides and GM seeds — to massive die-offs of bees and other pollinators. In Europe, this evidence had led to bans on GM crops and neonic pesticides in most member countries. Even in the U.S., public demands for GMO-labelling on foods, resisted by agribusiness through lobbying for decades, had finally given way to national legislation, set to take effect in mid-2018. Werner Baumann, CEO of Bayer, pondered what was the best way forward for Bayer, with or without Monsanto.