German drug and crop chemical maker Bayer (BAYGn.DE) is set to gain conditional European Union antitrust approval for its $62.5 billion bid for world No. 1 seed company Monsanto (MON.N), two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
The takeover, the latest in a series in the agribusiness sector in recent years, would create a company with a share of more than a quarter of the world seed and pesticide market.
Bayer has already pledged to sell certain seed and herbicide assets for 5.9 billion euros ($7.2 billion) to BASF (BASFn.DE) to address EU regulatory concerns.
The company will also give BASF a license to its digital farming data, and it appears BASF will have exclusive access as Bayer has not offered a legal obligation to license to other rivals, a person with knowledge of the matter has told Reuters.
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