Sullivan & Cromwell and Bayer’s High-Profile Corporate Acquistions
Sullivan & Cromwell–the old Dulles law firm–served as the legal adviser to Bayer in its acquisition of Monsanto. Previously, it served Bayer in a similar capacity in its acquisition of Merck’s consumer care division. Sullivan and Cromwell partner John Foster Dulles was instrumental in forming the I.G. Farben firm, of which Bayer was an integral part: ” . . . I.G. Farben was also one of the world’s largest chemical companies–it would produce the Zyklon B gas used at Nazi death camps–and as Foster was bringing it into the nickel cartel, he also helped it establish a global chemical cartel. . . . Foster had clear financial reasons to collaborate with the Nazi regime, and his ideological reason–Hitler was fiercely anti-Bolshevik–was equally compelling. . . . Since 1933, all letters written from the German offices of Sullivan & Cromwell had ended, as required by German regulations, with the salutation Heil Hitler! That did not disturb Foster. . . .”
