Bayer-Monsanto deal said to be on track for US approval by end of May

Barring any last-minute complications, Bayer’s plan to acquire Monsanto is on track to win U.S. antitrust approval by the end of May, Reuters reports, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Also Thursday, Bayer said it had agreed to sell more businesses to BASF to appease European regulators.

“With this move, we are implementing the corresponding undertakings made to the European Commission and other regulatory authorities to allow the successful closing of the Monsanto transaction,” Werner Baumann, chairman of the board of management of Bayer, said in a statement.

It is unclear how much of the future R&D spending would occur in the St. Louis area, where Monsanto’s research and development resources are headquartered.

Since 2013, the company has committed $400 million to improving and expanding facilities at its Chesterfield Research Center.

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