The European Commission extended the deadline for the antitrust review of Germany-based Bayer AG's proposed merger of Monsanto Co. to April 5, after Bayer offered concessions to allay antitrust concerns of the European regulator, Reuters reported.
The European regulator had earlier extended the deadline to March 12.
In October 2017, Bayer agreed to sell selected crop science businesses to German chemicals company BASF SE for €5.9 billion to allay antitrust concerns.
In 2016, Bayer signed a merger agreement with St. Louis-based Monsanto in a deal initially valued at about $66 billion. Delays in finalizing the acquisition allowed the U.S. fertilizers and agricultural chemicals company to cut its debt, lowering the deal's value to $63.5 billion.
