"German drugs and crop chemicals company Bayer AG has won over US seeds firm Monsanto Co. with an improved takeover offer of around $66 billion, ending months of wrangling after increasing its bid for a third time. The $128 a share deal, up from Bayer’s previous offer of $127.50 a share, is the biggest of the year so far and the largest cash bid on record. The deal will create a company commanding more than a quarter of the combined world market for seeds and pesticides in the fast-consolidating farm supplies industry,” reported Mint.

The market capitalisation of Monsanto India Ltd is around $652m, according to website Infinancials. According to Deutsche Welle, the combined market value of both Indian entities together will be $2.83bn.

Luthra & Luthra senior partner Mohit Saraf is understood to have led on the Indian leg of the deal for Bayer.

BofA Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse, the lead financial advisers on the deal, were advised on the India element of the deal by Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas managing partner Cyril Shroff, with corporate partners Ravi Kumar and Anchal Dhir.

We could not confirm at the time of publication whether Monsanto India had a domestic adviser, but we will update the story if we get any news on that front.

However, the deal is still subject to several complex competition clearances, especially in India, according to the Business Standard.

International giant

According to Bloomberg Law Big Law Business, Monsanto’s US stock exchange filing listed the following as international advisers (emphasis added):

BofA Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse are acting as lead financial advisors and structuring banks to Bayer in addition to providing committed financing for the transaction; Rothschild has been retained as an additional financial advisor to Bayer. Bayer’s legal advisors are Sullivan & Cromwell LLP (M&A) and Allen & Overy LLP (Financing).

Morgan Stanley & Co. and Ducera Partners are acting as financial advisors, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is acting as legal advisor to Monsanto.

In addition, Arnold & Porter has been advising Monsanto on the antitrust aspects of the deal, with a team that includes Jonathan Gleklen, Pete Levitas, and Barbara Wootton in Washington, DC and Tim Frazer in London.