ChemChina and Sinochem have announced a mega merger of their agricultural assets to form a new holding company called Syngenta Group, Global AgInvesting reported on 7 January.
State-owned chemical firm ChemChina bought Switzerland-based Syngenta in 2016 for US$43bn. Syngenta is one of the world’s largest producers of agrichemicals and seeds, including biotech oilseeds.
Global AgInvesting said ChemChina planned to move 100% of Syngenta’s shares into the new holding company, along with 74% of the shares of pesticide manufacturer ADAMA, which ChemChina also bought in 2016 from Israel’s Discount Investment Corp in a US$$1.4bn.
Syngenta Group would then acquire major agricultural assets from Sinochem “to further deepen the reform of state-owned enterprises and optimise resource allocation” and to strengthen cooperation between the two giants.
In December, Reuters reported that ChemChina had approached Chinese state-backed investors for up to $10 billion in funding as part of a reorganisation of its agrichemicals business ahead of a public float.
ChemChina was planning to list Syngenta on China's technology-focused STAR market by the middle of this year, Reuters said.
