Syngenta Still Being Eyed For China Takeover

Posted by Matthew J. Grassi|November 16, 2015

China National Chemical Corp. approached sovereign wealth funds including China Investment Corp. to help pay for a potential acquisition of Syngenta AG, which would be the biggest Chinese acquisition ever if it goes ahead, people with knowledge of the matter said, reports Jonathan Browning and Dinesh Nair with Bloomberg Business.

ChemChina, as the state-owned company is known, contacted government-run investment funds in Asia to gauge their interest in contributing money for an offer, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named because the talks are private. The funds, which could help ChemChina finance such a large purchase, haven’t yet agreed to participate, the people said.

ChemChina is in talks to buy the Swiss pesticide maker, people familiar with the matter said last week. The Chinese company offered 449 francs a share in cash, valuing the Swiss pesticide maker at 41.7 billion francs ($41.4 billion), one of the people said. Syngenta said the figure was too low, but it served as a basis for discussions, the person said.

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