Overnight there is a new and unfamiliar name in the golf turf and ornamental industry.
Cinven, a private equity firm based in London with offices in seven countries, has reached an agreement to acquire the professional business segment of Bayer's Environmental Science for $2.6 billion. Founded in 1977, Cinven acquires U.S. and European corporations in the following market segments: business services, technology, media and telecommunications, financial services, industrials, healthcare and consumer products.
The company announced in February 2021 its intent to divest the professional arm of its Environmental Science business, a division of Bayer Crop Science.
Environmental Science Professional is focused on environmental solutions to control pests, diseases and weeds in non-agricultural areas such as vector control, professional pest management, vegetation management, forestry and turf and ornamentals. In 2021, the business had approximately 800 employees supporting operations and sales in more than 100 countries. It is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina.
The decision to divest Bayer Environmental Science includes its professional turf and ornamental business, but does not include the segment's agricultural or commercial units, which are among its most profitable divisions.
"This divestment represents a very attractive purchase price and allows us to focus on our core agricultural business and the successful implementation of our Crop Science Division growth strategy," said Rodrigo Santos, president of Bayer's Crop Science division.
A spokesperson for Bayer said last year that the sale is not related to the company's ongoing challenges associated with settling thousands of lawsuits that blame glyphosate, the active ingredient in Bayer's Roundup herbicide, for causing cancer.
Bayer acquired Monsanto, the maker of Roundup, in 2018. Shortly after the acquisition, Bayer began answering charges filed by litigants that Roundup was responsible for causing their non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Since then, the company has spent almost $15 billion to settle current and future cases and recently has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and stop the bleeding.
The company announced last summer that it plans to halt sales of Roundup in the consumer market in 2023.