ChemChina and Syngenta said in a joint statement that they had “received clearance on their proposed transaction from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).”
They said a number of anti-trust regulators around the world still need to approve what would be by far the biggest-ever overseas acquisition by a Chinese firm.
They said the transaction was expected to close by the end of the year.
ChemChina announced the blockbuster deal in early February, vowing to dish out $465 for each Syngenta share, plus a special dividend.
Initially, the companies had expected to wrap up the first part of the transaction by May 23rd, but the period has been prolonged twice as the companies wait for the verdict of various competition authorities, which is now set for September 13th.
There have been few hurdles to the planned deal in Switzerland, but it raised more than a few eyebrows in the United States, where much of Syngenta's business is based.
At the end of March, four members of the US Senate agriculture committee wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew voicing their concerns.
The senators, from both the Republican and Democratic parties, asked that the planned deal be scrutinised for “any potential ramifications the purchase may have for American national security, with a specific focus on the potential effects on food security and the safety of our food system.”
This led to the review by CFIUS, an inter-agency committee that assesses the national security implications of foreign investments in US companies.
Syngenta rebuffed US rival Monsanto three times last year before accepting ChemChina's offer.
The proposed merger is not the only mega takeover planned in the sector as low crop prices push demand down for many agricultural products.
German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer is intent on snapping up Monsanto, last month saying it would raise its initial $62-billion offer for the company.
And last December, two of the oldest US companies, Dow Chemical and DuPont, announced a tie-up to create the world's biggest chemical and materials group, valued at $180 billion.
Following Monday's announcement, Syngenta saw its share price soar 11.58 percent in mid-morning trading to 424.90 Swiss francs a piece, as the Swiss stock exchange's main SMI index swelled just 0.69 percent.
CHINA
US approves Chinese mega deal with Swiss company
A US national security regulator has approved a state-owned China National Chemical Corp.'s planned $43-billion (38 billion-euro) takeover of Swiss pesticide and seed giant Syngenta, the two companies said on Monday.
CHINA
China derides Copenhagen democracy meet as ‘political farce’
China on Tuesday blasted a democracy conference in Copenhagen attended by Taiwan's president and a Hong Kong activist alongside Danish government officials this week, qualifying it a "political farce".
The Copenhagen Democracy Summit was held Monday and Tuesday in the Danish capital and organised by the Alliance of Democracies, an organisation targeted by Beijing sanctions in March and founded by former NATO boss Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
In addition to Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and Hong Kong democracy activist Nathan Law, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod also participated in the forum by video link, which Beijing said violated “the one-China principle.”
“This summit is a political farce,” the Chinese embassy in Denmark wrote in a statement published on Tuesday. “Inviting those who advocate Taiwan and Hong Kong ‘independence’ to the meeting violates the one-China principle and interferes in China’s internal affairs,” it said.
“Some hypocritical western politicians are good at meddling in other countries’ internal affairs and creating divisions and confrontation in the name of ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’. They are bound to fail,” it added.
At the conference on Monday, Kofod said it was “deplorable” that Beijing had imposed sanctions on 10 European individuals and organisations in response to EU sanctions on Xinjiang officials over their actions against the Uyghur Muslim minority.
Like most countries, Denmark applies the one-China principle — under which Beijing bars other countries from having simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taipei — though it does maintain relations with Taiwan.
Cut off politically from the rest of China since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the territory is self-governing but is not recognised by
the United Nations.
Beijing considers Taiwan a rebel province that will one day return under its control, by force if necessary.
China’s sabre-rattling has increased considerably over the past year, with fighter jets and nuclear-capable bombers breaching Taiwan’s air defence zone on a near-daily basis.
“Our government is fully aware of the threats to regional security, and is actively enhancing our national defence capabilities to protect our
democracy,” Tsai told the conference in a video address on Monday. US President Joe Biden is expected to present his China strategy soon, as
calls mount for him to publicly commit to defending Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese attack.
Please whitelist us to continue reading.
Member comments