Monsanto No More: Agri-Chemical Giant's Name Dropped In Bayer Acquisition 
 
 Enlarge this image toggle caption Francois Mori/AP Francois Mori/AP 
 
 Originally, it was just a name — Olga Monsanto's name, to be precise. 
 
 Around the turn of the 20th century, she married a man named John Francis Queeny. He named his artificial sweetener company after her. And over decades, that company expanded from the sweetness business into agri-chemicals, where it began to dominate the industry. 
 
 These days Monsanto is shorthand for, as NPR's Dan Charles has put it, "lots of things that some people love to hate": Genetically modified crops, which Monsanto invented. Seed patents, which Monsanto has fought to defend. Herbicides such as Monsanto's Roundup, which protesters have sharply criticized for its possible health risks. Big agriculture in general, of which Monsanto was the reviled figurehead. 
 
 And soon Monsanto will be no more. 
 
 Bayer, the German pharmaceutical giant and pesticide powerhouse, announced in 2016 it would be buying Monsanto in an all-cash deal for more than $60 billion. 
 
 Now, as the merger approaches, Bayer has confirmed what many suspected: In the merger, the politically charged name "Monsanto" will be disappearing. 
 
 The combined company will be known simply as Bayer, while product names will remain the same. 
 
 The move is not exactly a surprise — it makes sense that Bayer might want to weed out some of the intense negative associations associated with the Monsanto brand. In a way, it's an indication of how successful anti-Monsanto protesters have been in shaping public perception. 
 
 In the company's latest statement, Bayer implicitly acknowledged how hostile debates over genetically modified crops and other agricultural products have become. 
 
 "We aim to deepen our dialogue with society. We will listen to our critics and work together where we find common ground," the chairman of Bayer's board of management, Werner Baumann, said in the statement. "Agriculture is too important to allow ideological differences to bring progress to a standstill. We have to talk to each other. We need to listen to each other. It's the only way to build bridges." 
 
 NPR's Charles has reported extensively on genetically modified organisms. As he has noted, the political and social impacts of Monsanto's disappearance might reverberate not just in the U.S., but in Europe. 
 
 In the U.S., one question is whether protesters who have joined "Marches Against Monsanto" will "still march if there's no Monsanto," he says. 
 
 Meanwhile, in Europe, there has long been broad opposition to genetically modified crops. After Bayer acquires Monsanto, "suddenly, the leading seller of GMOs [will] be European, rather than American," Charles writes. "Would that matter? It's hard to say, but it seems possible." 
 
 Bayer's acquisition of Monsanto is part of a larger trend of consolidation in the agriculture industry — already dominated by massive corporations. 
 
 Once the merger is complete, on June 7, one of the world's largest pesticide producers will be combined with the world's largest seed company. 
 
 By any name, it will be the world's largest seed and ag-chemical company. ||||| FILE - This Monday, May 23, 2016, file photo, shows the Bayer AG corporate logo displayed on a building of the German drug and chemicals company in Berlin. The German pharmaceutical giant has agreed,... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - This Monday, May 23, 2016, file photo, shows the Bayer AG corporate logo displayed on a building of the German drug and chemicals company in Berlin. The German pharmaceutical giant has agreed, Tuesday, May 29, 2018, to the U.S. government's demand that it sell about $9 billion in agriculture... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - This Monday, May 23, 2016, file photo, shows the Bayer AG corporate logo displayed on a building of the German drug and chemicals company in Berlin. The German pharmaceutical giant has agreed, Tuesday, May 29, 2018, to the U.S. government's demand that it sell about $9 billion in agriculture... (Associated Press) FILE - This Monday, May 23, 2016, file photo, shows the Bayer AG corporate logo displayed on a building of the German drug and chemicals company in Berlin. The German pharmaceutical giant has agreed,... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — German pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG has agreed to the U.S. government's demand that it sell about $9 billion in agriculture businesses as the condition for acquiring Monsanto Co., a U.S. seed and weed-killer maker. 
 
 Antitrust regulators at the Justice Department say it's the biggest divestiture ever required for a merger. The regulators say they directed Bayer to divest assets such as vegetable oils, seeds and seed treatments to ensure fair competition and prevent price spikes after the massive agriculture business deal goes through. The assets will be sold to BASF, a German chemical company. 
 
 "As a result, American farmers and consumers will continue to benefit from competition in this industry," the Justice Department said in a statement. 
 
 Without the sale of Bayer assets, the merger of two of the world's largest agricultural companies "would likely result in higher prices, lower quality and fewer choices across a wide array of seed and crop-protection products," the statement said. "The merger also threatened to stifle the innovation in agricultural technologies that has delivered significant benefits to American farmers and consumers." 
 
 Bayer's $57 billion proposed takeover of Monsanto has been watched by competitors and environmental groups, which are fearful that the number of players in the business of selling seeds and pesticides will shrink further and give a single company a stranglehold on the food chain. 
 
 Monsanto, based in St. Louis, is one of the world's biggest seed companies. The merger would make Bayer the largest supplier in the world of pesticides and seeds for farmers. 
 
 "This merger is going to have a devastating effect on African American farmers and other small farmers," John Boyd, founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association, said in a telephone interview. "It means higher prices for small farmers, and more black farmers will end up going out of business due to these higher seed prices." 
 
 The divestiture proposal will be filed in federal court and opened to public comment for 60 days. 
 
 In March, the European Union approved the merger on condition that Bayer sell $7.4 billion in assets to BASF to eliminate overlaps in seed and pesticide markets. The U.S. Justice Department said after the European action that it continued to have concerns over the proposed deal, especially its potential impact on American farmers and consumers, which could differ from its effects in Europe. Genetically modified seeds, for example, are used widely in the U.S. but mostly banned in Europe. 
 
 Under the new U.S. agreement, Bayer must divest: 
 
 — Businesses that compete with Monsanto, including its cotton, canola, soybean and vegetable seed businesses, and its Liberty herbicide business, a key rival of Monsanto's well-known Roundup herbicide. 
 
 — Certain intellectual property and research capabilities for developing new products. 
 
 — Assets needed to ensure that BASF has the same incentives to innovate that Bayer would have as an independent competitor, including Bayer's early stage "digital agriculture" business. 
 
 The merger also has won approval from China, Brazil and Australia. 
 
 Bayer said it has now secured nearly all the needed government clearances for closing the deal. 
 
 "Receipt of the (Justice Department's) approval brings us close to our goal of creating a leading company in agriculture," Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said in a statement. "We want to help farmers across the world grow more nutritious food in a more sustainable way." 
 
 Some antitrust experts had warned that the merger would eliminate direct competition between two of the biggest players in the seed industry, giving the new company lopsided control over U.S. cotton acreage, and commercial seed development for canola, soybean and corn. 
 
 Two big mergers last year already have reshaped the global seed and pesticide market: Dow Chemical's combination with DuPont last year, and China National Chemical Corp.'s acquisition of Syngenta, a Swiss seed and pesticide maker.
– Monsanto, a name many critics equate with genetically modified crops and the heavy use of herbicides, will be rebranded once German pharma leader Bayer takes the helm, NPR reports. Bayer announced in 2016 it would acquire the agri-chemical business and this week said, following the takeover, "Monsanto will no longer be a company name." Per the AP, Bayer said Monday that it plans to complete its purchase of US seed and weed-killer maker after receiving all the required approvals from regulators. Along with the politically charged name, Bayer will be shedding much of Monsanto's agriculture arm. Regulators directed Bayer to divest assets such as vegetable oils, seeds and seed treatments to ensure fair competition and prevent price spikes after the massive agriculture business deal goes through. The assets will be sold to BASF, a German chemical company.