ChemChina sought on Wednesday to pre-empt political opposition to its $43.8bn bid for Swiss agribusiness, Syngenta, saying China’s biggest overseas takeover in history should not alarm politicians wary of the attempt to shore up its food security.
The takeover by the state-owned chemical group would be the largest ever outbound deal by a Chinese company and the most costly agriculture transaction on record, according to data from Dealogic.
The deal underlines one of the emerging trends of 2016 — four of the five biggest cross-border deals this year have involved Chinese groups bidding for US and European assets worth $61.7bn in total. It also highlights the determination of Chinese companies to secure quality strategic assets.