Germany-based agro-chemical company BASF has finalized the acquisition of several businesses and assets of rival Bayer.

The transaction is a complement to BASF’s crop protection, biotech and digital farming activities, while also marking its entry into seeds, non-selective herbicides and nematicide seed treatments.

BASF signed agreements in October 2017 and April 2018 to acquire the businesses and assets Bayer offered to divest in related to its acquisition of Monsanto, for an all-cash purchase price of €7.6 billion (US$8.8 billion).

These transactions are now complete, except for the vegetable seeds business for which closing is expected in mid-August 2018.

The agreements include Bayer’s seeds businesses, certain glyphosate-based herbicides in Europe, the vegetable seeds business, as well as certain non-selective herbicide and nematicide research projects.

BASF has renamed the division from Crop Protection to Agricultural Solutions, and has established a new global business unit for seeds and traits.

"With strong solutions from seeds to harvest, enabled by even better R&D capabilities and scale, we will increase the competition in the market. This means customers have a real choice, today and in the future,” said Markus Heldt, president of BASF’s Agricultural Solutions division.

“After months of preparing the seamless transfer of businesses and smooth onboarding of employees, everybody is keen to finally get started – as a new team and with our expanded business and capabilities"