Is China Buying Big Ag Around the World

Syngenta Aims to Complete ChemChina Deal This Year

Syngenta’s CEO says the company remains on pace to complete the takeover by China National Chemical, or ChemChina, by the end of this year. ChemChina offered more than $43 billion in cash for the Swiss company in February. Syngenta CEO John Ramsay told Bloomberg Wednesday that the process of getting approval from regulators was moving according to its original timetable. However, some analysts warn the deal could be delayed by regulators, including the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Some U.S. lawmakers are cautious of the takeover because of the plan's potential impact on U.S. farmers’ access to genetically modified seeds, and have called on the Treasury Department to include agriculture sector regulators as part of its review of the deal.

Australia Defers Decision on Land Deal

Australia's government is pushing back a decision on whether to permit the sale of one of the nation’s largest cattle operations. A joint Chinese-Australian group has reached an agreement to buy Kidman & Company, Australia's biggest farming estate. However, as Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today reports, the agreement needs approval from regulatory bodies in Australia and China. Australia has chosen to defer approval until after the country’s federal elections in July. A takeover had previously been blocked by Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board because Kidman's Anna Creek cattle station in South Australia is close to a military rocket test site. Sellers have since removed the property from the offering. The 33,000 square miles of ranchland equals one percent of all land in Australia, or an area bigger than Ireland, and is home to roughly 150,000 head of cattle. The deal is worth 370 million Australian dollars, or 288 million U.S. dollars.

Source:  NAFB News