Deals
Deere Deal for Monsanto’s Precision Planting Opposed by U.S.
- Justice Department sues to block deal as anticompetitive
- Precision sale comes amid consolidation wave in farming sector
A John Deere & Co. 7760 cotton picker in the Nueces County of Chapman Ranch, Texas.
Photographer: Eddie Seal/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Deere & Co. was sued by U.S. antitrust officials seeking to block its purchase of Monsanto Co.’s Precision Planting LLC equipment business, a deal the government says would eliminate competition and raise costs for farmers.
Deere’s acquisition would combine the only two significant U.S. providers of high-speed precision planting systems used by farms, giving the company control of close to 90 percent of the U.S. market, the Justice Department said Wednesday in a complaint filed in federal court in Chicago.