Bayer’s $63 billion Monsanto purchase has suffered regulatory delays, mounting legal claims and now will yield lower earnings for the year than earlier forecast. Still, the company’s CEO says he has “no regrets.”
The German company lost out on revenue from Monsanto’s busy spring season, when farmers in the Northern Hemisphere plant the bulk of their crops, because antitrust challenges slowed the acquisition of the maker of Roundup weed killer. The shares fell as much as 3.7 percent in Frankfurt, and have lost about 23 percent this year.
“The Monsanto business is very healthy,” Chief Executive Officer Werner Baumann said Wednesday in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “We are as excited as we have ever been about the combination, and there are absolutely no regrets.”