ChemChina won conditional EU antitrust approval on Wednesday for its $43 billion bid for Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta. If the deal goes through, it would be the largest foreign acquisition by a Chinese company.
U.S. antitrust authorities nodded the deal through on Tuesday on condition ChemChina divests some of its products. Syngenta said the EU’s go-ahead was a major step toward closing the transaction, expected in the second quarter of 2017.
The deal is one of several reshaping the agricultural chemicals and seeds market, even as these deals trigger fears among some farmers that bigger, more powerful suppliers could be better placed to push up prices and economize on developing new herbicides and pesticides.
The European Commission said planned asset sales would address its competition concerns. “It is important for European farmers and ultimately consumers that there will be effective competition in pesticide markets, also after ChemChina’s acquisition of Syngenta,” European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
ChemChina will sell a large chunk of its subsidiary Adama’s pesticide, herbicides and insecticides business, its seed treatment products for cereals and sugar beet and a substantial part of its plant growth regulator business for cereals. American Vanguard said it struck a deal with Adama to acquire three crop protection product lines, without disclosing financial terms.
Some of Syngenta’s pesticides will also be put on the block. Syngenta is the world No. 1 pesticides maker selling its products in more than 90 countries. The company also sells seeds such as cereals, corn, rice, soybeans and vegetables.
