Monsanto is reported to have given Bayer limited access to its books after last month rejecting an improved takeover offer of $125/share, or around $65 billion. The parties have not yet signed a non-disclosure agreement, which would allow Bayer to conduct due diligence, but Monsanto is giving the German company a “limited drip” of information, according to Reuters news agency.

Sources said Bayer had no appetite to put a deal at risk by going hostile, although talks were “difficult.” An earlier news report in German business publication Handelsblatt, citing sources close to management, stated that Bayer officials were preparing to “turn directly to shareholders” to secure a deal if Monsanto insisted on a price which the Germans perceived as too risky. The US agrochemicals giant called the latest bid in July “financially inadequate.

 “In the coming weeks, CEO Werner Baumann will make a decision; namely whether a friendly merger is still possible, or whether Bayer must choose an alternative path,” sources told Handelsblatt.