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Report: Bayer takeover of St. Louis based Monsanto approved

Monsanto in September accepted an offer from Bayer to pay $57 billion to its shareholders and assume $9 billion in debt.
Credit: JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images
A picture shows the Monsanto logo at the firm Manufacturing Site and Operations Center.

BRUSSELS (AP) - The European Union has approved Bayer's buyout of Monsanto in a massive agriculture business deal, but says they will have to shed some $7.4 billion in firms and other remedies to ensure fair competition in the market.

EU Antitrust Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Wednesday that the remedies proposed by both parties are worth well over 6 billion euros and "meet our competition concerns in full."

Monsanto in September accepted an offer from Bayer to pay $57 billion to its shareholders and assume $9 billion in debt.

Without the remedies, Vestager said that the buyout would have significantly reduced competition in the market and hindered innovation. She said the deal would create the world's largest integrated pesticides and seeds company.

(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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