BEIJING (AP) – U.S. regulators have agreed to a Chinese conglomerate’s proposed $43 billion acquisition of Swiss agribusiness giant Syngenta on condition it sells some businesses to satisfy anti-monopoly objections.
The Federal Trade Commission’s announcement follows approval last year by European regulators of the purchase by state-owned ChemChina. It would be China’s biggest foreign acquisition to date.
ChemChina, also known as China National Chemical Corp., agreed to sell businesses that make an herbicide, an insecticide and a fungicide for which combined market shares with Syngenta would cause “significant competitive harm,” an FTC statement said Tuesday.
Chinese companies are engaged in a multibillion-dollar global buying spree to acquire technology and brands to improve their competitive edge as explosive growth in their home economy slows.
At the same time, the global industry that supplies farm chemicals, biotechnology and other inputs is in the midst of a shake-up as tumbling commodity prices squeeze spending by farmers.