KWS seeks to buy Bayer's vegetable business

FRANKFURT, May 29 (Reuters): German seed seller KWS Saat has made a rival offer for Bayer's vegetable seed business, a unit Bayer had agreed to sell to BASF as part of its planned merger with Monsanto.

KWS on Tuesday said its non-binding proposal was first made to Bayer on Jan 26, but not disclosed to investors at the time.

Frustration over Bayer's rejection despite a "highly attractive price" led KWS to break cover on the bid, in the hope that antitrust regulators will regard it more favourably, KWS Chief Executive Hagen Duenbostel told Reuters.

Having turned down the KWS bid, Bayer continued to negotiate the sale of the vegetable assets - known under the Nunhems brand - with BASF, which was already due to buy other Bayer assets worth 5.9 billion euros ($6.8 billion).

"Somebody has to move. We've waited so long, we decided to make a move now to get the ball rolling," said Duenbostel.

He declined to give more detailed terms.