ChemChina offers to buy Syngenta for $43bn

The deal would be the biggest foreign purchase by a Chinese company and the second biggest takeover in the chemicals industry over the past year.

 

ChemChina plans to pay 480 Swiss francs in cash for each share in Syngenta.

The Swiss company said it was 'unanimously recommending the offer to shareholders' and that the deal will help it further expand in China.

"The transaction minimises operational disruption; it is focused on growth globally, specifically in China and other emerging markets, and enables long-term investment in innovation," Syngenta chairman Michel Demaré said in a statement.

"Syngenta will remain Syngenta and will continue to be headquartered in Switzerland, reflecting this country's attractiveness as a corporate location."

The Swiss company has seen its stock price get a boost on speculation it would be taken over.

In recent months, it has faced an unsolicited $46bn cash-and-stock takeover bid from US rival Monsanto. That was rejected on competition grounds.

ChemChina does not have a big business

in agricultural chemicals, but will still need regulatory approval in the US and Europe for the deal to go through.

The company owns a variety of businesses

, included the Italian tyremaker Pirelli, German machinery-maker KarussMaffei and Israel's biggest pesticides producer.