Reuters — State-owned China National Chemical Corp. has raised its offer to buy Syngenta by about $2 billion, to US$44 billion, proposing a two-stage takeover of the agrochemical company, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.
ChemChina has offered 470 Swiss francs (C$661) per share to buy 70 per cent of Syngenta with an option to acquire the remaining 30 per cent at a later date, Bloomberg reported Friday.
Syngenta and ChemChina were not immediately available for comment.
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Syngenta, under pressure to boost shareholder returns after turning down a US$47 billion takeover offer from Monsanto this year, rejected ChemChina’s previous offer last month due to regulatory concerns, Bloomberg had reported.
The framework of the new offer allows ChemChina to integrate with Syngenta’s businesses before taking over complete control of the company, Bloomberg said.
Syngenta is ready to discuss deals with anyone in the industry, including Monsanto, interim CEO John Ramsay told Dow Jones earlier Friday.
Ramsay said Monsanto had not revived its takeover effort, but said a deal with ChemChina would face lower regulatory hurdles than a deal with a Western rival.
— Reporting for Reuters by Amrutha Penumudi in Bangalore.
