Does Bayer's Acquisition of Monsanto Make Sense?

This year, the agricultural industry underwent a dramatic shake-up as a series of mega-mergers and acquisitions occurred; one of those was Bayer’s acquisition of Monsanto. We conducted an in-depth analysis of the future combined company’s strengths and weaknesses across four technology categories; crop and seed traits, Digital Ag, synthetic agrochemicals, and biologicals. We examined each individual company's external innovations in these technology families by examining recent licenses, partnerships, and acquisitions. We also examined each individual company's internal innovations in these technology families by examining recently granted intellectual property. The analysis reveals if Bayer's acquisition of Monsanto made sense, and if it was truly worth the $66 billion price tag.