China National Chemical Corp. said it had received clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States for its $43 billion acquisition of Swiss-based Syngenta, the New York Times reported. The approval removed one of the biggest potential challenges to the deal, the paper said.
“The China National Chemical Corporation, known as ChemChina, has been an active buyer in recent years, acquiring more than a half-dozen companies in Europe, the Middle East and Australia. But if it is completed, the Syngenta purchase would be China’s biggest foreign deal ever,” the Times said.
USDA had participated in the review at the request of farm-state senators to make sure the impact of the deal on U.S. food security and food safety would be considered.
Syngenta, based in Basel, Switzerland, is one of the world’s largest producers of agricultural chemicals, including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and seeds, the Times said. It was formed in November 2000 by the merger of the agribusinesses of Novartis and AstraZeneca. Syngenta had sales of $13.4 billion in 2015, and employs more than 28,000 people in over 90 countries.