Here's How a Bayer-Monsanto Merger Affects Workers, Farmers, and Investors

Bayer wants to buy Monsanto for $62 billion, hooking up the German chemical and drug company with the St. Louis-based producer of seeds and weed-killers.  The deal would create a global giant in agriculture technology touching much of global food production through the development of seeds and pesticides.  They would combine different regional strengths: Monsanto is big in the United States, while Bayer has a larger presence in Europe and Asia. Bayer says the head office for the combined seed business will be in St. Louis, Missouri, where Monsanto is headquartered. The combined company would control 28% of the world’s market for pesticides and would have a “strong presence” in the U.S. market for corn and soybean seeds. Anti-trust regulators will scrutinize the deal to see whether it means less competition.