ChemChina, as the state-owned company is known, offered about 470 francs a share in cash and a deal could be announced as early as Wednesday when the Swiss company reports earnings, the people said, asking not to be named as the details aren’t public.
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Since then, Syngenta has said that it is discussing possible deals with multiple parties, a shift in its initial resistance to a takeover.
Shares in Syngenta closed on Tuesday at 392.3 Swiss francs.
The Syngenta deal, if completed, would overtaking CNOOC’s 2012 purchase of Canadian energy company Nexen as the biggest foreign acquisition by a Chinese company.
ChemChina’s offer would be at a premium of 24 per cent to Syngenta’s Monday close of 378.40 francs. The St. Louis-based company dropped its pursuit of Syngenta in August after Syngenta spurned a sweetened offer of $46 billion in cash and stock.
Syngenta declined to comment.
“It looks like they (Syngenta) have a lot of USA operations but it doesn’t look like they are sensitive”, said one CFIUS expert, adding that he would be “very surprised” if the company failed to register the merger with the agency. It recently announced it would buy Germany’s KraussMaffei Group, a maker of machinery for producing plastics and rubber.
The Chinese government is keen to boost farming productivity as it seeks to cut reliance on food imports amid limited farm land, a growing population and higher meat consumption.
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The Syngenta deal is also part of a shake-up of the global agricultural and chemical industry, which is being pressured by tumbling commodity prices that are forcing farmers to spend less on seeds, pesticides and equipment.
