ChemChina has secured the support it needs from Syngenta shareholders to wrap up its record $43 billion takeover of the Swiss agrochemicals company popular among U.S. farmers.
China National Chemical Corporation announced on Friday that about 80 percent of Syngenta shares have been tendered, easily above the minimum of 67 percent needed by the May 4 deadline.
The deal, announced in February of 2016, is the largest ever foreign takeover by a Chinese firm.
ChemChina’s offer is for $465 per share.
News of ChemChina clinching Syngenta shareholder support adds further momentum to the deal, which received antitrust approval from several governments — including the United States, China, Mexico and the European Union — in recent months.
Two other agribusiness mega deals are in the works in addition to ChemChina’s purchase of Syngenta. German pharmaceuticals company Bayer is finalizing a $66 billion deal with Monsanto, and Dow Chemical and DuPont are merging in a $130 billion agreement.
Some farmers fear the three transactions will overly consolidate the seeds and pesticides markets, leading to fewer options and more expensive products.
Photo by Darrell Hoemann/Big Ag Watch
A Syngenta facility in Paris, Ill., on Dec. 9, 2014.
Read also: Weeding out competition: Farmers left paying steep prices as seed firms merge
But Tamara Nelsen, senior director of commodities for the Illinois Farm Bureau, told Big-AgWatch.org in an interview last October that the ChemChina-Syngenta deal could also open up more consistent trade avenues with China, which blocked U.S. corn imports containing an unapproved variety of genetically engineered corn made by Syngenta in 2013.
“I think it’s possible the ownership of Syngenta by ChemChina may facilitate more of a predictable approval process in China for biotech crops because they’ll have their own stake in the game,” she said. “It might also help with some of the more politically driven bans we’ve had on U.S. corn, soybeans and other products.”
Read also: Ag officials ponder future trade as ChemChina-Syngenta deal reportedly hits snag
ChemChina and Syngenta also announced changes to the board of directors of Syngenta that will come following the closing of the takeover deal.