BASF SE undefined said Friday that it has reached an agreement to buy "significant" parts of Bayer AG's ( BAYRY ) herbicide business in an all-cash deal valued at just under €6 billion ($7.1 billion). Bayer is selling the unit, which earned an operating profit of €385 million from sales of around €1.3 billion last year, as part of its ongoing merger with Monsanto Co. ( MON ), with both deals expected to close in the first quarter of next year - although the BASF sale is conditioned on the formal closing of the Monsanto deal. The official BASF purchase price is €5.9 billion. "With this investment, we are seizing the opportunity to acquire highly attractive assets in key row crops and markets. It will be a strategic complement to BASF's well-established and successful crop protection business as well as to our own activities in biotechnology," said BASF CEO Kurt Bock. "The acquisition will further enhance our agricultural solutions offer, which is a core pillar of BASF's portfolio."