Shareholders’ acceptance paves way for completion of China’s biggest global takeover

China National Chemical Corp, also known as ChemChina, said on Friday that shareholders of Syngenta AG, the Swiss agrochemical and seed producer, have accepted its $43 billion takeover bid, paving the way for completion of China’s biggest international acquisition deal.

Based on preliminary numbers, 80.7 percent of shares were tendered in favor of the acquisition, higher than the minimum acceptance rate of 67 percent needed for the deal to go through, ChemChina said in a statement

The first payment settlement is scheduled for May 18.

The Chinese company plans to delist Syngenta’s shares in Switzer- land and the United States at an appropriate time.

“The completion of this deal will help ChemChina become one of the world’s largest suppliers of pesticides and other crop-care chemicals,” said Ding Lixin, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing.

However, Ding said Dow Chemical Co’s merger with DuPont Co and Bayer AG’s purchase of Monsanto Co, which occurred in the past two years, would continue to provide intense market competition with ChemChina, as the top six international suppliers including Syngenta and BASF SE, have all been vying for market share and financial resources to push research and development of new products.

Zhang Xiaoping, director for Chi-