Bayer AG’s Monsanto subsidiary agreed to pay ScottsMiracle-Gro $112 million to buy out four consumer Roundup product lines as the companies ended a brand licensing agreement. The pact comes as Monsanto faces hundreds of lawsuits alleging the weedkiller caused non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Under the pact, ScottsMiracle-Gro, a 20-year Roundup licensee for weed control, will serve as a sales agent for any new Roundup product extensions Monsanto develops. The companies also will share equally any future profits from sales of those products, something that is expected to generate $15 million for ScottsMiracle-Gro in the fiscal year ending in September.

ScottsMiracle-Gro last renewed the Roundup pact in 2017.  Mosanto is purchasing brand extension rights that ScottsMiracle-Gro acquired with a $300 million upfront payment in 2015. ScottsMiracle-Gro expects to receive the first money from the sale in early 2020, company executives said.

“We think it is a pretty good payment for the deal and we wouldn’t have been selling this product if we didn’t think it was safe,” ScottsMiracle-Gro Group CEO Jim Hagedorn told analysts in releasing Q2 earnings. “This remains a really good product and brand.”

Contact:

ScottsMiracle-Gro, Randy Coleman, CFO, 937-644-0011