PEORIA, Ill. — AGCO announced last week it had reached a deal to acquire central Illinois-based Precision Planting LLC, a specialty equipment business based in Tremont owned by The Climate Corp. (TCC), a subsidiary of Monsanto Co.

 

The transaction to acquire the high-speed precision tillage manufacturer was announced in a July 26 AGCO news release.

Like an earlier agreement Monsanto had reached in 2015 to sell Precision Planting to Deere and Co. – that collapsed under heavy scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) – the deal is subject to review and regulatory approvals.

“Precision Planting is a strong business that plays an essential role in the growth and adoption of innovative precision ag practices that help farmers enhance their productivity,” stated Mike Stern, TCC CEO. “As a leading global equipment manufacturer,

AGCO is uniquely positioned to enable broader distribution of Precision Planting technology, and will continue the development of innovative products that improve the efficiency and productivity for farmers around the world.”

According to Martin Richenhagen, AGCO chair, president and CEO, “The acquisition of Precision Planting will solidify AGCO as one of the global leaders in planting technology and strengthen our position as a full line partner for professional farmers across the globe.”

Terms of the agreement were not announced, but both companies said TCC’s Climate FieldView digital agriculture platform will retain connectivity with Precision Planting’s 20/20 SeedSense monitor.

TCC had terminated a prior agreement to sell Precision Planting to Moline, Ill.- based Deere on May 1. The transaction with Deere, announced by both parties in November 2015, had been delayed by DOJ concerns with the transaction. An unresolved federal antitrust lawsuit filed by the DOJ sought to block Deere’s acquisition of Precision Planting.

Stern told news sources in May that Monsanto’s decision to rescind its agreement with Deere was “totally” based on delays and a “lack of clarity” from the DOJ. TCC also said it would move forward with plans to sell Precision Planting and had spoken “with several third parties that have expressed interest in purchasing it.”

Deere responded to Monsanto and TCC quashing the deal by terminating the company’s Digital Ag Connectivity agreement with TCC. A distribution agreement with Ag Lender was also ended.

The DOJ maintained in its never-settled antitrust lawsuit that if approved, the deal would have allowed Deere to “dominate the market for high-speed precision planting, and be able to raise prices and slow innovation at the expense of American farmers who rely on these systems.”

Deere vehemently denied the DOJ assessment that the deal would infringe on antitrust territory, and asserted there is already plenty of competition on the open market for high-speed precision farming tools.

 

“We are deeply disappointed in this outcome, as we remain confident the acquisition would have benefited customers,” said John May, John Deere president of agricultural solutions and chief information officer, in May. “With an opportunity to see this to conclusion, we believe it would have been clear the challenge to the transaction was based on flawed assessments of the marketplace.”

Deere had alleged the DOJ’s decision to pursue federal antitrust action blocking the sale was brought not to protect laws preventing monopolies, but rather to protect an unnamed “specific competitor” for Monsanto-owned Precision Planting.

“The DOJ initially cleared Deere’s acquisition of Precision Planting,” Deere Director of Global Public Relations Ken Golden told Farm World in November 2016. “However, a competitor to Deere protested, and the DOJ opened a new investigation and filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block the sale.”