ChemChina extends Syngenta acquisition offer deadline to September 13
China National Chemical Corp says any extension beyond November 23 would require approval from the Swiss securities regulator
China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) has further extended the deadline of its US$43 billion share buyout offer for Swiss crop seeds and pesticides firm Syngenta, as it awaits for all of the deal’s conditions to be fulfilled, including regulatory approvals.
The Beijing-based firm, the nation’s largest high-end chemicals company, has set a new deadline of September 13 on its US$465 per share offer to Basel-based Syngenta’s shareholders, representing a premium of about 20 per cent.
The offer, which opened on March 23, had an original deadline of May 23 and was later extended to July 18.
It can be “extended at any time and from time to time ... until such time [that] all conditions to the offers are satisfied,” the offer’s shareholders prospectus said, adding that an extension beyond November 23, six months from the original deadline, will require approval from the Swiss securities regulator.
“All of the other terms and conditions of the tender offers remain unchanged and ChemChina continues to expect to conclude the transaction by the end of the year,” ChemChina said in a statement posted on its website.
One of the conditions for the deal’s completion is that at least at least 67 per cent of Syngenta shares must be tendered by its shareholders in response to the offer.