Bayer Boss, Bullish on Growth, Defends Monsanto Deal

Bayer AG Chief Executive Werner Baumann defended the company’s planned $66 billion acquisition of U.S. seed maker Monsanto Co. to a gathering of investors and analysts, while laying out increased midterm sales and earnings targets for the crop and pharmaceuticals businesses. “There was a perception that this was something that came out of the blue and was completely off strategy,” Mr. Baumann said of the Monsanto deal.“Just to set the record straight, we were crystal clear, in Sept 2014, that our objective is to build our life-sciences portfolio,” based on health care and agriculture, he added. Mr. Baumann’s comments came less than a week after Bayer announced an agreement to acquire Monsanto for $128 a share, following months of haggling between the two companies.