SYT Syngenta Ag (delisted)

By Jacob Bunge 

U.S. antitrust officials cleared China National Chemical Corp.'s purchase of Swiss pesticide giant Syngenta AG, requiring that ChemChina sell three crop chemical businesses to a rival.

The Federal Trade Commission's approval is a milestone for the $43 billion deal, the largest ever overseas acquisition by a Chinese company. A U.S. national security panel cleared the deal in August 2016, despite concerns among some lawmakers and farmers about China's influence in U.S. food production.

The approval advances a wave of multibillion-dollar deals set to reshape the $100 billion global business in crop seeds and pesticides, at a time when farmers and the companies supplying them are struggling against low crop prices. Abundant grain has slashed farmers' incomes and forced seed and chemical suppliers to lay off employees and scale back some research.

To secure the Syngenta deal, ChemChina agreed to divest several pesticides manufactured by Adama Agricultural Solutions Ltd., an Israeli-based ChemChina subsidiary that focuses on generic chemicals. American Vanguard Corp. will purchase all rights and assets to Adama's production of paraquat, used to kill many weeds prior to planting, the FTC said. American Vanguard will also acquire Adama's business in abamectin, an insecticide used in citrus and nut production, and chlorothalonil, used to defend peanuts and potatoes from fungus. Syngenta sells branded versions of those chemicals.

Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. "We are comfortable with the outcome and most important, Syngenta will continue to provide a high quality, broad portfolio of products and solutions to U.S. farmers," a Syngenta spokesman said. A spokesman for ChemChina referred a request for comment to Syngenta.

Authorities in the European Union, China, India and Mexico are still reviewing the deal.

Last week the EU's antitrust agency approved Dow Chemical Co.'s planned merger with DuPont Co., requiring DuPont divest portions of its pesticide business to Philadelphia-based chemical supplier FMC Corp. in exchange for FMC's health and nutrition business, and $1.2 billion in cash. Germany-based Bayer AG, another major pesticide supplier, is pursuing a separate deal to acquire Monsanto Co., the world's largest crop seed company. That deal hasn't been approved in the U.S. and elsewhere.

The consolidation spree has sparked worries among some farmers and agricultural groups that higher prices and reduced choice could follow, prompting some to lobby the Trump administration to step in.

Write to Jacob Bunge at jacob.bunge@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 04, 2017 18:26 ET (22:26 GMT)

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