Bayer AG, a German multinational, has acquired an additional 11.91% stake in its Indian agrochemical arm, Bayer CropScience Ltd, for ₹2,207 crore (approximately $264 million USD as of current exchange rates). This transaction involved the purchase of 5,354,030 shares at an average price of ₹4,122.30 apiece. As a result of this block deal, Bayer AG's direct shareholding in Bayer CropScience Ltd has increased significantly, from 8.43% to 20.34%.
The shares were acquired from another promoter entity, Bayer CropScience Aktiengesellschaft (AG), which completely exited the firm by selling its 11.91% stake. This was an inter-promoter transfer, meaning that while the distribution of ownership within the promoter group changed, the overall promoter shareholding in Bayer CropScience Ltd remained constant at 71.43%. The transaction was executed on July 8, 2026, and was exempt from open offer requirements under SEBI regulations.
The deal price of ₹4,122 per share was within regulatory limits, as the 60-trading-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP) preceding the notice was ₹4,434 per share, and the acquisition price was not higher by more than 25% of this computed VWAP. Following the announcement, shares of Bayer CropScience initially slipped nearly 1% to trade at ₹4,128 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on July 9, 2026, though they had climbed as much as 4% intraday on July 8 after the disclosures.
