ChemChina, Sinochem Merge Ag Assets into New Syngenta Group

ChemChina and Sinochem have announced a mega-merger of their agricultural assets into a new holding company to be called Syngenta Group.

State-owned ChemChina acquired Syngenta in 2016 through a $43 billion deal for the agri-inputs giant, translating to $465 per share.

Born from the merging of Novartis and AstraZeneca in November 2000, Switzerland-based Syngenta is one of the largest producers of agri-chemicals and seeds in the world, with a presence in more than 90 countries at the point of acquisition, according to the New York Times.

ChemChina intends to shift 100 percent of Syngenta’s shares into the new holding company, along with 74 percent of pesticide manufacturer ADAMA’s shares, which ChemChina also fully acquired in 2016 from Israel’s Discount Investment Corp. through a $1.4 billion deal.

Syngenta Group will then go on to acquire major agricultural assets from Sinochem, according to an announcement, that goes on to explain that the goal of the merger is “to further deepen the reform of state-owned enterprises and optimize resource allocation,” and to strengthen cooperation between the two giants.

Moving forward, Chen Lichtenstein, president and CEO of Shenzhen-listed ADAMA since 2014, has been appointed CFO of Syngenta Group, and will be based out of Basel, Switzerland. Likewise, the board of directors of Syngenta Group will appoint Erik Frywald, CEO of Syngenta since 2016, as the on-going CEO of Syngenta Group.

These actions are reportedly being undertaken, according to CTGN, prior to ChemChina’s plans to list Syngenta on Shanghai’s tech-focused STAR market by the middle of this year.