China’s quest to build its own companies that can compete with global multinationals has prompted the federal government to initiate talks with state-owned ChemChina and Sinochem. The merger would create an agriculture chemical, fertilizer, and petrochemical behemoth with about $100 billion in revenues.
It is unclear whether the merger would jeopardize ChemChina’s $43-billion takeover of Syngenta because a combined Sinochem-ChemChina will face additional antitrust concerns. The Syngenta-ChemChina deal has already been approved by the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment, which could require a new review of a deal that now includes Sinochem.
In recent weeks, Chinese media have raised questions about ChemChina’s ability to close the deal with Syngenta, citing missing bridge financing.
有关合并的报道已由非官方消息来源泄露，但尚未得到两家公司的证实。