Bayer shares slide on Monsanto bid talks

Frankfurt - Shares in Bayer slid by 7% at the start of trade on Thursday after the chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant said it was in merger talks with US agricultural firm Monsanto.

Bayer shares were the biggest losers on the blue-chip DAX 30 index in Frankfurt, plunging 7.0 percent to an intraday low of 89.65 euros, while the overall market was down by around 1%.

Earlier, the German drug manufacturer best known for its aspirin painkiller had said that "Bayer executives recently met executives of Monsanto to privately discuss a negotiated acquisition of Monsanto Company."

Monsanto disclosed ..."in response to recent media reports that it has received an unsolicited, non-binding proposal from Bayer AG for a potential acquisition of Monsanto, subject to due diligence, regulatory approvals and other conditions."

But both sides emphasised that the talks were still only exploratory at this stage.

And neither mentioned how much any proposed deal would be worth.