Bayer gets OK for strob buy
17 October 2000
Bayer gets OK for strob buy
By FWi staff
BRUSSELS has given German chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer the go-ahead to buy the strobilurin fungicide business owned by Novartis.
Bayer and the Swiss company have agreed a price of 880m euros for the worldwide deal for the business based on trifloxystrobin (Twist/Flint).
Novartis had to sell to meet anti-trust requirements linked with its plans to merge with AstraZeneca, the maker of azoxystrobin (Amistar), to form Syngenta.
Under the transaction Bayer will also acquire exclusive rights to market products based on the active ingredient cyproconazole (as in Alto).
The company says it expects to exploit the full potential of Flint products in the next three years to complement its Folicur (tebuconazole) fungicide.
While it has been passed by the EU Commission, the deal still needs approval from the US Federal Trade Commission and other competition authorities.