Brussels | Reuters — European Union antitrust regulators on Friday opened an in-depth investigation into state-owned Chinese chemicals group ChemChina’s US$43 billion bid for Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta, China’s biggest-ever foreign acquisition. Syngenta’s shares plunged over nine per cent on Monday after the European Commission said the companies had not allayed its concerns […] Read more
Tag Archives syngenta — page 9
EU probe to hold up ChemChina’s acquisition of Syngenta
ChemChina reported ready for concessions to clinch Syngenta deal
Beijing/Zurich | Reuters — State-owned Chinese chemicals group ChemChina is ready to offer more concessions to win European Union antitrust approval for its US$43 billion bid for Swiss pesticide and seed group Syngenta, a source with direct knowledge of the process said. Clinching China’s biggest-ever foreign acquisition is taking longer than planned amid a flurry […] Read more
Syngenta slumps after EU watchdog sparks ChemChina deal doubts
Brussels/Zurich | Reuters — Syngenta shares fell more than nine per cent on Monday after the European Commission triggered doubts about Chinese state-owned chemical company ChemChina’s US$43 billion bid for the Swiss pesticides and seeds group. The companies met with the EU antitrust authority a week ago in a bid to allay competition concerns about […] Read more
ChemChina, Syngenta ready to offer EU remedies over merger
Florence | Reuters — Chinese state-owned chemical company ChemChina and Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta are prepared to offer concessions to EU antitrust regulators to ease concerns over their US$43 billion deal, a person familiar with the matter said Friday. The companies will meet European Commission officials on Monday in a meeting called by […] Read more
U.S. farmer suits over Syngenta corn get class status
Reuters — A U.S. district court judge in Kansas this week said lawsuits brought by U.S. farmers against seed company Syngenta over sales of biotech corn seeds not approved for import by China can proceed as a class action, according to a court filing. Farmers from the largest U.S. corn-producing states sued the seed maker […] Read more
Agricultural merger mania fuels fears among small seed sellers
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Justice Department is looking into concerns that global consolidation among major seed and agricultural chemical companies may squeeze supplies of the building blocks for widely used genetically modified seeds, a farm group told Reuters. The department has asked the American Soybean Association for details about how small and independent […] Read more
U.S. lawmakers skeptical of ag chemical, seed merger wave
Washington | Reuters — U.S. lawmakers expressed concern on Tuesday over a wave of mergers among companies that sell farmers their seeds, herbicides and insecticides, worrying that the deals could lead to higher prices and less innovation at a time of dropping farm incomes. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, said the proposed mergers […] Read more
Bayer betting billions farmers will back linked-up supplies
Frankfurt | Reuters — Bayer’s US$66 billion purchase of Monsanto amounts to a long-term bet that farmers will grow to trust combinations of seeds and pesticides rather than continue to pick from ranges of separate products. In the short term, the German drugs and chemicals firm hopes to benefit from a marketing and sales force […] Read more
ChemChina extends tender offers for Syngenta
Zurich | Reuters — ChemChina on Tuesday extended by almost two months the deadline for Syngenta investors to tender their shares as the Chinese company seeks to complete a US$43 billion takeover of the Swiss pesticides and seeds group. Investors in Basel-based Syngenta now have until Nov. 8 to tender their shares unless this is […] Read more
U.S. Senate judiciary committee to hold hearing on ag chem deals
Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Senate judiciary committee will hold a hearing in late September to discuss the mergers of Dow Chemical and Dupont as well as ChemChina’s purchase of Syngenta, committee chair Charles Grassley said in a statement Tuesday. Grassley, a Republican from the farm state of Iowa, has already expressed concern that […] Read more
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