Gov. Jay Nixon traveled to Germany for a meeting with Werner Baumann, chairman of Bayer AG, about the global biotech and drug company’s purchase of St. Louis-based bioscience and seed company Monsanto.

The governor met with Baumann at Bayer AG headquarters in Leverkusen, Germany, on Nov. 18. Nixon wanted to reiterate that he is determined that, if approved, the Bayer-Monsanto merger would benefit the innovators and researchers at Monsanto’s Missouri operations, as well as the state's economy.

Ready for business
Monsanto employs more than 4,300 highly skilled employees in the St. Louis area, which is recognized as home to the world’s largest concentration of plant scientists.

MERGER MESSAGE: Gov. Jay Nixon is in talks with the company chairmen of Bayer and Monsanto to see what the merger would mean for Missouri's employment and economic opportunities. He is stressing that the state is a good fit for the two global companies. (Photo: Saklakova/iStock/Thinkstock)

“Monsanto is the global leader in plant science, with an incredibly skilled workforce operating in a very favorable business environment,” Nixon said in a news release. “Given those outstanding assets, it’s no wonder Bayer AG is interested in merging with Monsanto."

He added that while in the past some global mergers have fallen short of their promises to the St. Louis region, he wants to make certain that Baumann and his Bayer team understand the outstanding opportunities for growth and expansion in Missouri that would benefit the newly merged company.

Keeping jobs
Nixon discussed the potential for growth offered by Bayer’s existing 240-acre Kansas City facility that provides more than 840 jobs, producing some of the world’s leading seed treatments and agricultural chemicals.

Back in September, when the Bayer and Monsanto potential merger was announced, Nixon spoke with both Baumann and Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant. He says that both men confirmed their public statements that the combined agricultural business of Bayer and Monsanto will have its global Seeds and Traits and North American commercial headquarters in St. Louis.

Source: Missouri Governor's Office