Monsanto no longer looking at big deals

Monsanto appears to be taking itself out of agriculture chemical deal contention. In a conference call with analysts, CEO Hugh Grant said he no longer sees “large-scale M&A as a likely opportunity.” Last year, Syngenta rebuffed a $45 billion acquisition bid from Monsanto, agreeing instead to a $43 billion offer from ChemChina. Consolidation in the agricultural chemical and seed business helped influence the pending merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont. Speculation that Bayer, BASF, and Monsanto might look to transactions has persisted for months. “Our strategy is innovation-driven, and it’s highly collaborative,” Grant said. The company has a crop-traits collaboration with BASF.