John Deere’s planned purchase of the Monsanto-owned farm equipment business Precision Planting has been delayed following the filing of a civil antitrust suit to block the sale by the US Justice Department. Precision Planting makes components for precision planters, including technology to retrofit older planters, and Monsanto agreed to sell the business to John Deere last November. The Justice Department reckons Deere and Monsanto sell 86% of all equipment in the US precision-planting sector, and is concerned the deal would give Deere a stranglehold on the market for high-speed precision-planters. In a press release, John Deere said it believes the allegations about the competitive impacts of the transaction are misguided and the companies intend to defend the transaction against those allegations. If approved by the courts, this transaction would mark the second precision planting purchase for John Deere within the past year. In February, the concern completed its acquisition of Monosem.
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