【英语财经】中国化工接近达成收购瑞士先正达 ChemChina close to $43bn deal for Swiss rival Syngenta

China has launched its biggest takeover bid yet, with ChemChina offering $43bn-plus to buy Swiss agribusiness company Syngenta, capping a record start to the year for mainland dealmaking.

Syngenta announced the agreement on Wednesday, confirming the previous day’s reports, and said its existing management would remain in place.

ChemChina said it would look “in the years to come” to list the business via an initial public offering and was committed to maintaining “the highest corporate governance standards”.

Ren Jianxin, ChemChina chairman, said the Chinese group would work with Syngenta’s managers “to maintain the company’s leading competitive edge in the global agricultural technology field”.

Chinese companies have been on a foreign buying spree over the past few months as China’s slowdown and a growing appetite among domestic consumers for global brands has driven outbound deals. In January, Chinese companies spent more than $22bn on foreign acquisitions, according to Dealogic, the fastest start to a year in its history.

The deal would mark the second blockbuster takeover in the chemicals industry in two months. In December, Dow Chemical and DuPont agreed a $130bn combination and revealed plans to subsequently break up into three separate companies, including one focused on seed and crop protection.

For Syngenta, a sale would end a long saga that has seen it escape an unsolicited takeover bid by US rival Monsanto and fail to secure a deal for Pioneer, Dupont’s seed business. Last year, Syngenta also rejected an offer from ChemChina that valued its shares at SFr449, people close to the talks have said. Shares in Syngenta rose 4 per cent to SFr393 in Zurich. The stock has been boosted in large part by continued speculation that it would be acquired. Syngenta declined to comment.

When it rebuffed Monsanto’s cash-and-stock offer, Syngenta argued that a combination of the two would face serious concerns from global competition regulators. ChemChina does not have a large presence in agricultural chemicals, although it did buy Israel’s biggest pesticides producer for $2.4bn in 2011.

A deal with China National Chemical Corp, the company’s full name, may raise concerns that critical crop protection products will be controlled by a group with close ties to the Chinese government. “One of the most interesting elements here will be whether ChemChina needs CFIUS approval,” analysts at Olivetree Securities said, referring to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US.

The committee has the power to review and then block any transaction that may raise national security concerns, as it did last month with the planned sale of Philips’ Lumileds business to a Chinese private equity group.

ChemChina has been among China’s most prolific dealmakers in recent years. The company bought Italian tyremaker Pirelli for $7.9bn last year. In January, it agreed to pay $1bn for KraussMaffei, the German machinery company, and also bought a 12 per cent stake in Mercuria, valuing the Swiss energy trader at more than $3bn.

Additional reporting by Ralph Atkins

中国一家化工集团接近敲定中国最大一笔海外收购案。中国化工(ChemChina)接近达成430亿美元收购瑞士农业企业先正达公司(Syngenta)的交易。

参与谈判的知情人士称，两家公司预计将在今天宣布收购协议。但是他们补充称，该协议尚未签署，仍然有可能谈崩。他们称，中国化工将以每股470瑞士法郎现金收购先正达。

过去数月，中国企业发起境外收购攻势，中国经济放缓以及国内消费者对全球品牌日益增长的需求促使海外交易增多。Dealogic数据显示，1月中国企业在境外收购上支出逾220亿美元，创史上同期最高纪录。

该交易将标志着两个月来化工行业第二笔重磅收购案。去年12月，陶氏化学(Dow Chemical)和杜邦(Dupont)同意达成总值1300亿美元的合并案，并透露了接下来拆分为3家独立公司的计划，其中包括一家专注于种子和农作物保护的公司。

对于先正达来说，出售将标志着一段长篇故事的终结——其间它避开了美国竞争对手孟山都(Monsanto)发出主动收购要约，而后未能敲定收购杜邦旗下的种子企业Pioneer的交易。知情人士称，去年先正达还曾拒绝中国化工提出的每股449瑞士法郎的报价。先正达在苏黎世的股价昨日上涨4%，至393瑞士法郎/股。其股价近来被推高，主要得益于该公司将被收购的持续猜测。先正达拒绝置评。

当初拒绝孟山都现金加股票的报价时，先正达辩称，两家企业合并将引起全球竞争监管机构的严重顾虑。相比之下，中国化工在农业化学品市场的份额不大，尽管它在2011年斥资24亿美元收购了以色列最大农药生产商。

先正达与中国化工集团公司（China National Chemical Corp，中国化工的全称）的协议，可能会引起人们对关键农作物保护产品将被与中国政府关系密切的企业控制的担忧。“这笔交易最有意思的元素之一将是，中国化工是否需要得到美国外国投资委员会(CFIUS)的批准，”橄榄树证券(Olivetree Securities)的分析师问道。

该委员会拥有审查以及阻止任何可能引发国家安全担忧的交易。上月，CFIUS叫停了飞利浦(Philips)把旗下Lumileds公司出售给一家中国私人股本集团的计划。

中国化工是近年达成交易最多的中国企业之一。去年，它以79亿美元收购了意大利轮胎制造商倍耐力(Pirelli)。1月，它同意以10亿美元的价格收购德国机械公司克劳斯玛菲集团(KraussMaffei)，还收购了瑞士能源交易商摩科瑞(Mercuria) 12%的股份，相当于对后者估值30亿美元以上。

拉尔夫?阿特金斯(Ralph Atkins)补充报道

译者/马柯斯