Bayer to Buy Monsanto for $66 Billion
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Ordinarily, the wheelings and dealings of large agribusiness corporations aren’t of much interest to organic farmers and consumers, but a new deal in the works should give us all pause because it involves two of the least environmentally-friendly Big Ag companies in the world, plus some of the banksters who gave us the Great Recession of 2008.
German drug and agricultural chemical maker Bayer makes the neonicotinoid pesticides that are decimating bee colonies around the world, and Monsanto is the company behind GMOs and Roundup herbicide. Bayer has clinched a $66 billion takeover of Monsanto, according to the Reuters News Service, ending months of wrangling with a third sweetened offer that marks the largest all-cash deal on record.
The $128-a-share deal, up from Bayer’s previous offer of $127.50 a share, has emerged as the signature deal in a consolidation race that has roiled the agribusiness sector in recent years, due to shifting weather patterns, intense competition in grain exports and a souring global farm economy.
“Bayer’s competitors are merging, so not doing this deal would mean having a competitive disadvantage,” said fund manager Markus Manns of Union Investment, one of Bayer’s top 12 investors.
Grain prices are hovering near their lowest levels in years amid a global supply glut, and farm incomes have plunged.
But the proposed merger will likely face an intense and lengthy regulatory process in the United States, Canada, Brazil, the European Union, and elsewhere. Hugh Grant, Monsanto’s chief executive, said the companies will need to file in about 30 jurisdictions for the merger.
Competition authorities are likely to scrutinize the tie-up closely, and some of Bayer’s own shareholders have been highly critical of a takeover that they say risks overpaying and neglecting the company’s pharmaceutical business.
If the deal closes, it will create a company commanding more than a quarter of the combined world market for seeds and pesticides in the fast-consolidating farm supplies industry.
What the newly-formed company would be named is unclear.
Grant said on a media conference call that the future of the Monsanto brand has not yet been discussed, but the world’s largest seed company is “flexible” about the name going forward.
The transaction includes a $2-billion break-up fee that Bayer will pay to Monsanto should it fail to get regulatory clearance. Bayer expects the deal to close by the end of 2017.
Bayer’s move to combine its crop chemicals business, the world’s second-largest after Syngenta AG, with Monsanto’s industry-leading seeds business, is the latest in a series of major agrochemicals mergers.
The German company is aiming to create a one-stop shop for seeds, crop chemicals and computer-aided services to farmers.
That was also the idea behind Monsanto’s swoop on Syngenta last year, which the Swiss company fended off, only to agree later to a takeover by China’s state-owned ChemChina.
U.S. chemicals giants Dow Chemical and DuPont plan to merge and later spin off their respective seeds and crop chemicals operations into a major agribusiness.
And Canadian fertilizer producers Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc. and Agrium Inc. agreed to combine to navigate a severe industry slump, but the new company’s potential pricing power may attract tough regulatory scrutiny.
Antitrust experts have said regulators will likely demand the sale of some soybeans, cotton, and canola seed assets.
Bayer said BofA, Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and Chase JP Morgan had committed to providing the bridge financing.
BofA, Merrill Lynch, and Credit Suisse are acting as lead financial advisers to Bayer, with Rothschild as an additional adviser. Bayer’s legal advisers are Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and Allen & Overy LLP.
Morgan Stanley and Ducera Partners are acting as financial advisers to Monsanto, with Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen, & Katz its legal adviser.
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TOXIC CHEMICALS IN HOUSEHOLD DUST LINKED TO CANCER, INFERTILITY
Household dust harbors a cocktail of toxic chemicals that have been linked to an increased risk of a range of health hazards, from cancer to problems with fertility, researchers in the US have found, according to a report in the Guardian newspaper in Britain.
The chemicals are shed from common products, from flooring to electrical goods as well as beauty and cleaning products.
“We think our homes are a safe haven, but unfortunately they are being polluted by toxic chemicals,” said Veena Singla, co-author of the study by the Natural Resources Defense Council in California.
The scientists cautioned that children were particularly vulnerable to the health effects of contaminated dust as they often play or crawl on the floor and frequently touch their mouths. “They end up having a lot more exposure to chemicals in dust and they are more vulnerable to toxic effects because their brains and bodies are still developing,” said Singla.
Writing in the Environmental Science and Technology journal, Singla and colleagues described how they analyzed 26 peer-reviewed papers, as well as one unpublished dataset, from 1999 onwards to examine the chemical make-up of indoor dust. The studies covered a wide range of indoor environments, from homes to schools and gymnasiums across 14 states.
“What emerged was a rather disturbing picture of many different toxic chemicals from our products that are present in dust in the home and [are] contaminating the home,” said Singla.
The researchers highlighted 45 toxic chemicals in indoor dust, 10 of which were present in 90 percent or more of the dust samples–these included flame retardants, fragrances, and phenols.
Among them is the flame retardant TDCIPP that is known to be cancer-causing and is frequently found in furniture foam, baby products, and carpet padding, as is TPHP, another flame retardant in the top 10 list that can affect the reproductive and nervous systems.
“They are just a bunch of letters – a lot of people might not recognise what those chemicals are, or what they mean, but they are really a number of bad actor chemicals,” said Singla.
Other toxic substances found in almost all of the dust samples include chemicals known as phthalates that are often found in vinyl flooring, food packaging, personal care products and have been linked to developmental problems in babies, hormone disruption, and are also thought to affect the reproductive system.
While some chemicals on the list have been banned from use in childcare products, or are being more widely phased out, Singla says many remain widespread in the home. “Especially for building materials there is not as much turnover of a lot of those products, like flooring,” she said, adding: “Unfortunately even though some of these phthalates have been banned from kids’ products, they are not banned from other kinds of products.”
In a separate, unpublished, analysis, Singla compared the levels of chemicals found in household dust with soil screening levels used by the Environmental Protection Agency in the US. “What we found–and we were shocked by it actually–is that the dust levels exceed those EPA screening levels for a number of the chemicals and again it is the phthalates and flame retardant chemicals that are standing out as the bad offenders here,” said Singla.
But, she adds, there are steps that can be taken to reduce exposure to contaminated dust. As well as vacuuming floors, hands should be washed with plain soap and water before eating, while cleaning with a wet mop and dusting with a damp cloth can help to reduce household dust levels.
While a wider policy change on the use of toxic chemicals is needed, Singla added, consumers could also take action by making careful choices about the products they buy. “It is really important for companies and regulators to get the message that people care about this and want and need safer products for their families.”
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INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT TO PRIORITIZE ECO-CRIMES
Just as the International Monsanto Citizens’ Tribunal is preparing to hold Monsanto accountable for its crimes in The Hague next month, comes this breaking news from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The ICC, will for the first time in history prioritize crimes “committed by means of, or that result in the destruction of the environment, the illegal exploitation of natural resources, or the illegal dispossession of land.”
What does this mean for the Monsanto Tribunal?
It means that its work in The Hague will form the foundation for prosecuting companies like Monsanto, Bayer, Dow, and the rest of the corporate biotech criminals in the United Nations-backed International Criminal Court.
When the Monsanto Tribunal was being planned, the intent was to draw international attention to Monsanto’s crimes—all of them. The Tribunal wanted to change the rules so that corporations like Monsanto could be prosecuted for crimes against nature or the environment, not just crimes against humanity.
That’s why this news from the United Nations-backed ICC is breathtaking. It validates the work of the Citizens’ Tribunal. It means that finally, Monsanto and companies like it will have to answer for destroying the world’s soils, wiping out biodiversity, poisoning the world’s water and air.
The proposed takeover of Monsanto by Bayer doesn’t change the impact the Monsanto Tribunal will have. A corporate criminal by any other name is still a corporate criminal.
The Monsanto Tribunal is just one of the projects the Organic Consumers Association is working on. With Bayer’s proposed buyout of Monsanto, OCA plans to double down in 2017 on its work to expose Big Biotech’s efforts to monopolize seeds and the world’s food supply, and its rampant poisoning of our food, bodies, and our environment.
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1.5 BILLION FEWER BIRDS IN NORTH AMERICA SINCE 1970, REPORT SAYS
North American skies have grown quieter over the last few decades by the absent songs of 1.5 billion birds, says the latest summary of bird populations, according to Bob Weber, writing in The Canadian Press.
The survey by dozens of government, university and environmental agencies across North America has also listed 86 species of birds—including once-common and much-loved songbirds such as the evening grosbeak and Canada warbler—that are threatened by plummeting populations, habitat destruction and climate change.
“The information on urgency is quite alarming,” said the summary’s co-author Judith Kennedy of Environment Canada. The summary is entitled, “Partners in Flight. “We’re really getting down to the dregs of some of these populations.”
The summary is the most complete survey of land bird numbers to date and attempts to assess the health of populations on a continental basis. It concludes that, while there are still a lot of birds in the sky, there aren’t anywhere near as many as there used to be.
Evening grosbeaks are down 92 per cent since 1970. Snowy owls have lost 64 per cent of their numbers. The Canada warbler has lost 63 per cent of it population.
Tally it all up and there should be another 1.5 billion birds perching in backyards and flying around in forests than there are, says the report.
Nor are the declines stopping. Among those 86 species, 22 have already lost at least half of their population since 1970 and are projected to lose another 50 per cent of their numbers within the next 40 years.
For at least six species, this “half-life” window is fewer than 20 years.
The culprits are familiar.
Agriculture disturbs habitat of grassland birds and introduces pesticides into the landscape. Logging fragments the intact forests birds use as refuelling stations as they migrate. Domestic cats are thought to kill more than two billion birds a year.
“It’s the death of a thousand cuts,” said Kennedy.
At stake is much more than the pleasure of a little bird song. The report says birds are crucial indicators of overall ecosystem health. Healthy forests and prairies need healthy bird populations, said Kennedy. “(They) only function because of that abundance.”
As well, birds — like bees — pollinate plants. And birds eat bugs. Lots of bugs. “We would be bitten by a lot more mosquitoes (with fewer birds).”
There are still up to five billion birds that leave Canada every winter. But Kennedy said the time to start thinking about their future is now, before some species start to decrease. “It’s too late for us to worry when we’re down to the last few hundred.”
The Partners In Flight report reinforces messages from several previous, related studies.
Earlier this year, the North American Bird Conservation Initiative found one-third of all North American bird species need quick help to stop them from disappearing, with more than half of all seabird species on the road to extinction without conservation action.
A 2014 study by the Audubon Society found climate change could cost 126 species more than half their current range by 2050.
A McGill University study in 2015 concluded more than 70 percent of global forests are within a kilometer of a road, field, town or other human disturbance—easily close enough to degrade forest habitat.
It seems that Rachel Carson was prescient indeed when she published Silent Spring in 1962.
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