Canadian antitrust authorities are investigating agriculture companies, including Bayer AG, Corteva Inc. and BASF over allegations that they sought to block an online farm-supply start-up.
The news, first reported in The Wall Street Journal newspaper, found that Canada’s Competition Bureau plans to seek records and communications from the companies as well as from farm-supply wholesalers such as Cargill Inc. and Univar Solutions Inc. that are relevant to the matter. The news is based on documents filed in Canadian federal court.
The seeds and agricultural chemicals companies allegedly stopped supplying Farmers Business Network Inc.’s newly acquired Canadian business in 2018, and some company officials urged farmers and others in the industry not to do business with the company.
Canadian antitrust authorities are probing how major farm suppliers responded after FBN in March 2018 acquired a Saskatchewan-based agricultural retail business, which FBN planned to use as an entry point to introduce its platform in Canada.
