Monsanto Company

The Monsanto Company was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Its best known product was Roundup, a glyphosate based herbicide developed in the 1970s, and the company later became a major producer of genetically engineered crops, being one of four groups to introduce genes into plants in 1983 and among the first to conduct field trials of genetically modified crops in 1987. Monsanto ranked among the top ten United States chemical companies until it divested most of its chemical businesses between 1997 and 2002, refocusing on biotechnology. The company also has a controversial history, having once manufactured products including the insecticide DDT, PCBs, Agent Orange and recombinant bovine growth hormone. In September 2016 the German chemical company Bayer announced its intent to acquire Monsanto for 66 billion US dollars in an all cash deal, and the sale was completed on June 7, 2018 after United States and European Union regulatory approval; ongoing litigation over Monsantos Roundup herbicide has since caused major financial and reputational setbacks for Bayer. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/