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Originally Posted by Justin_Chicago
I think you are missing the argument. The corporate functions and R&D will likely always remain in St. Louis but the executive team and support staff (Investor Relations, Corporate Development, Treasury, Corporate FP&A) could be attracted to Chicago in the near future due to globalization. This is exactly what happened with Caterpillar. Plant scientists do not need access to O'Hare airport for a direct flight to Australia or Southeast Asia.
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Trust me, I'm not missing the point. St. Louis is home to AB-InBev North American HQs, however, New York City is home to its commercial strategy office that has executives, sales, marketing etc. I understand the nature of satellite executive offices. St. Louis just lost Boeing's Defense division executive HQs to Virginia - although the bulk of its defense jobs remain in St. Louis.
Truth is, Monsanto has always been a global company based in St. Louis. Surely, there will be a newly-organized executive team and support staff in St. Louis, but I suspect the most significant aspects (Investor Relations, Corporate Development, Treasury, Corporate FP&A) will be handled in Germany and St. Louis. While anything is possible, I just don't think a Chicago move will happen. Monsanto is very entrenched in St. Louis and Bayer seems to respect that.
Just for the record, my understanding is the St. Louis division will be under Bayer Crop Science, which will be HQd in Germany. Crop Science is to have four divisions (Seed & Traits and North American commercial headquarters in St. Louis, Global Crop Protection and overall Crop Science headquarters will be in Monheim, Germany, an important presence in Durham, NC (RTP), as well as digital farming activities in San Francisco, CA.).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Justin_Chicago
I personally doubt Monsanto (even an executive office) will ever leave St. Louis. The city has a lot of great stuff going for it, such as strong universities (Washington Univ), a good presence of fortune 500 companies (AB InBev, Express Scripts, Ameren, Reinsurance), and decent airport access (#32 busiest). Minneapolis also shares similar attributes. I think Chicago will attract companies with global ambitions from the next tier of cities and start-ups looking for readily available tech talent, support structure, robust B2B ecosystem, and capital.
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There will be an executive office in St. Louis - no doubt. It's already been decided. Monsanto (and other local global firms) have operated a global outfits out of St. Louis forever using St. Louis-Lambert International Airport. Also, while it's no O'Hare, and as quiet as it's kept,
the airport is growing year-over-year. St. Louis is also in the process of luring British Airways.