On Thursday, Syngenta released what many analysts called a “positive” earnings report.
Syngenta officials said the numbers show the company is making progress, and it bolsters their case against a takeover bid by Monsanto.
But Monsanto chief technology officer Dr. Robb Fraley said that Syngenta still faces longer-term challenges.
“They stretched out their long-term growth goals for their company,” Fraley said. “A few years ago they were going to achieve their financial targets by the end of this decade. Now they’ll say it’s sometime in the next decade which I think, in many ways, puts our offer even more favorably in the light of their owners.”
In an interview with CNBC, Syngenta chief executive Michael Mack accused Monsanto of having “an incomplete strategy."
“What they see in Syngenta is a superlative crop protection business,” Mack said. “I think they have some tools in their toolbox, but it’s very narrow in geographic focus and it’s very narrow in terms of technology
“Syngenta is an immediate answer to their really long-term problems—and I don’t think it’s incumbent on us to solve Monsanto’s strategic problems.”
Which brought this response from Monsanto’s Fraley.
“Well, I think we’re the one who’s in the business and financial position to offer a $ 45 billion proposal to acquire their company,” he said. “Our business is strong, and even though we’re in the downturn of the crop industry cycle, (it’s) a strong business.”
Fraley says the combination of Monsanto’s strong seeds, traits and data science business with Syngenta’s strong crop chemical business would benefit farmers around the world.
Source: www.brownfieldagnews.com