Arnold & Porter's $66 Billion Monsanto Deal Wins Global Antitrust 'Matter of the Year' and 'Merger Control Matter of the Year - Europe' GCR Awards

On March 26, 2019, Arnold & Porter's work for Monsanto on its merger with Bayer was named "Matter of the Year" at Global Competition Review's GCR Awards 2019. Separately, the matter also won in the "Merger Control - Europe" category. Arnold & Porter advised on the merger control aspects of Monsanto's $66 billion acquisition by Bayer.

The ninth annual GCR Awards celebrated "the best in competition enforcement, merger and cartel defense" and honored the law firms, attorneys, economists and enforcers that "excelled" in 2018.

Bayer's acquisition of Monsanto was approved by the European Commission in March 2018 after a 20 month investigation leading to Phase II remedies in the EU and a consent decree in the US that the DOJ characterized as "the largest negotiated merger divestiture ever required by the United States." Arnold & Porter represented Monsanto in the US and EU and coordinated antitrust/competition approvals in almost 30 other jurisdictions worldwide in connection with the transaction.

The Arnold & Porter transaction team included Antitrust/Competition partners Jonathan Gleklen, Axel Gutermuth, Debbie Feinstein, Pete Levitas, and counsel Barbara Wootton. Jonathan Gleklen chairs the firm's US Antitrust/Competition practice and Debbie Feinstein heads the firm's Global Antitrust group.