Syngenta/ChemChina Deal One Step Closer to Done

Chris Beytes

U.S. regulators have approved the acquisition of Syngenta by China National Chemical Corporation, better known as ChemChina. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States was checking that the $43 billion deal, announced back in February, wouldn’t jeopardize national security. That removed much insecurity about the deal and Syngenta’s stock price jumped as much as 12.5% on the news. News reports say the sale could be finalized by the end of the year, pending further anti-trust review by global regulators.

Syngenta isn’t likely to go on the record about what this might mean for the flower portion of the business, but one change to the entire corporation is that it will now be privately, not publicly held, meaning it won’t be at the mercy of shareholders and demand for short-term returns. And all the reports we’ve read say that China is interested in Syngenta for long-term food security reasons. GT