Mandate

Gleiss Lutz assists Bosch with sale of Japanese greenhouse sensor business

Bayer CropScience K.K., Tokyo, is acquiring Bosch’s intelligent greenhouse sensor business, which is based in Japan. With the takeover, the company is looking to expand its range of AI-based digital solutions for sustainable agriculture. The transaction is subject to clearance by the antitrust authorities, and the parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

Plantect – known in some markets under the name Greenhouse Guardian – is an AI-powered agricultural service that provides environmental monitoring of greenhouse crops and predicts the likelihood of plant disease, thereby improving crop yields. The IoT solution, which has temperature/humidity, CO2 and solar radiation sensors, is currently available in Japan and South Korea. Bayer will be using the services of the Bosch IoT Suite to operate the system in future. The deal also includes the corresponding long-term supply agreements in this respect.

The entire transaction was handled by Bosch’s in-house team headed by Jörg Futter (Digital and New Businesses) and comprising Daniel Reiser (IP), Christian Treib (Antitrust, all Gerlingen) and Yuzo Iwami (Legal Services Japan, Tokyo).

The following Gleiss Lutz team is advising Bosch in connection with the relevant review and preparatory work for the antitrust filing procedures: Dr. Matthias Karl (partner, lead), Dr. Philipp Pichler (counsel, both Competition/Antitrust, Stuttgart).

Gleiss Lutz regularly advises Bosch on transactions as one of the panel law firms.

 

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