After a tempestuous trans-Atlantic courtship that took shape several months earlier, the board members of Basel-based Syngenta in August unanimously declined to accept a takeover-merger bid from St. Louis-based Monsanto. The latest offering from Monsanto pegged Syngenta's value at about $47 billion, and it included a reverse break-up fee of $3 billion in case the Monsanto bid did not meet approval from regulators in several countries who were expected to raise antitrust concerns. Despite those sweeteners, Syngenta board members said that Monsanto's enhanced offer still “significantly undervalued” the worth of the Swiss seed and agrichemical company and “was fraught with execution risk.” Soon after these discussions came to a halt, Syngenta announced plans to build shareholder value, with the first steps being plans to sell off its global vegetables seed business and to resume a share repurchase program. Monsanto officials, reiterating regrets over the collapsed negotiations and missed prospects for “substantial synergies,” said the company would continue to focus on growth opportunities from its core businesses of breeding, biotechnology, data science and next-generation biologicals.