Bayer (OTCPK:BAYRY) and Monsanto (NYSE:MON) are starting asset sales worth ~$2.5B as they seek regulatory clearance for their $66B merger, Reuters reports.

Antitrust and industry experts expect potential sales of soybean, cotton and canola seed assets as well as LibertyLink-branded crops that are resistant to glufosinate herbicide, an alternative to MON's Roundup Ready seeds.

Analysts view BASF (OTCQX:BASFY) as a potential buyer of some of the assets after avoiding the consolidation wave in the agrochemicals industry, in which Dow Chemicval and DuPont are merging and ChemChina is buying Syngenta.