As shareholders of pesticide and seed companies Monsanto and Bayer await regulatory approval of a US$66 billion deal, the heads of both groups reportedly met with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump yesterday.

German multinational Bayer has sought to acquire the U.S. agricultural powerhouse, in what some have speculated may involve a rebrand of the North American company. 

A Bayer spokesperson told Reuters the meeting between Trump, Bayer chief executive officer Werner Baumann, Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant and company advisors went well, as a "productive meeting about the future of agriculture and the need for innovation".

Publication Mother Jones reports a combined deal between both companies would control 29% of the global seed market and a quarter of the international pesticide market.

The deal is one of two subject to antitrust scrutiny by Trump's incoming teams at the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, with the other being a tie-up between pesticide firms Dow and DuPont. 

Trump is yet to announce his choice of Agriculture Secretary.

Photo: Gage Skidmore, via Flickr Creative Commons

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