Monsanto Weighs $40 Bln Syngenta Deal : Report

(RTTNews) - Agricultural products giant Monsanto Co. (MON) recently explored a takeover of $34 billion Swiss crop chemicals firm Syngenta AG (SYT) in a transaction that would have allowed the U.S. firm to move its tax location to Switzerland, Bloomberg reported.

The deal, which is now defunct according to people familiar with the matter, is another sign of how U.S. firms in many sectors are trying to avoid corporate taxes by moving their headquarters overseas, the report said.

Quoting the people, the report indicated that Monsanto and Syngenta held preliminary talks with advisers in the past few months about a combination before Syngenta's management decided against negotiations. Company officials also spoke informally with each other about a potential deal.

There were concerns about the strategic fit, antitrust issues and relocating the company to Switzerland for tax reasons. The talks, which valued Syngenta at more than $40 billion, collapsed in late May. An additional concern was that U.S. politicians would close the inversion loophole, thereby removing that benefit, the report said.