http://www.fwi.co.uk/article.asp?con=11912&sec=2&hier=660 Farmers Weekly interactive Arable news 04 September 2003 Bayer 'won't buy Monsanto' By Julian Gairdner AGCHEM giant Bayer CropScience has said it expects to oust Syngenta to become the number one player in the market within three years. But with rumours that Monsanto could be up for sale, the company's management board chairman Jochen Wulff said Bayer would not be among the bidding for another large company. Instead the company plans to rely on biotechnology and new active ingredients to pave the way for much for its new growth. Mr Wulff outlined the company's ambitious plans at an international meeting organised for over 120 journalists in Monheim, Germany on Wednesday (3 September). "We are already market leader in crop protection and environmental science, and we want to be number one in the overall segment by 2006," he said. But this would not be done through another major acquisition to follow its purchase of Aventis CropScience in June 2002. "We will continue to look for smaller acquisitions that would complement our existing lines, but not one the size of Monsanto," he said. Bayer is set to launch 14 new active ingredients in the period 2001 to 2005. But it is in the area of biotechnology that it sees the greatest potential for growth. "With sales of E240m in 2002, and E168m in the first six months of 2003, we are one of the fastest-growing companies in the biotechnology market," said board member, Bernward Garthoff. "Our wide range of biotech development activities goes well beyond current applications such as plants with herbicide tolerance." Potatoes with enhanced starch qualities are one such example, he added. But he denied accusations that the EU was increasingly hostile to GM crops. "There is low level acceptance. But what we have seen is increasing acceptance. "In terms of consumers realising this is a technology that has advantages, that is growing." In its crop protection division, Bayer said it intends to introduce two to three new compounds a year. New facilities at its Monheim site mean it can screen 100,000 new compounds a day compared to 10,000 a year in the greenhouse. A new range of ketoenole insecticides is planned with "broad spectrum" activity. But the company would not divulge which crops, or markets they were aimed at. But with the company's focus on South America and Asia, there appeared to be fewer new technologies for the European market. "The core biotech crops are not really European crops," said UK communications manager, Clive Rainbird. Bayer's annual research and development budget is E700m a year. Operating in more than 120 countries, with approximately 20,000 employees worldwide, Bayer's number two spot in the league of big players puts it ahead of Monsanto, DuPont, BASF, and Dow R & H.