From China Real Time:
Swiss pesticide and seed giant Syngenta has agreed to a $43 billion takeover offer from China National Chemical, in the most ambitious foreign takeover attempt by a Chinese company to date. Here are five things to know about the company commonly known as ChemChina
1. What is ChemChina?
China National Chemical Corp. was formed in 2004 and is the largest chemicals company in China. Headquartered in Beijing, ChemChina remains unlisted and is a state-owned enterprise ultimately managed by the Chinese government. ChemChina’s revenue last year was $45 billion and it employs 140,000 people, according to its website.
2. What does it do?
ChemChina produces a wide array of chemicals and is also a leading manufacturer of tires, conveyor belts and chemical machinery. The company is China’s largest producer of pesticides and its chief mandate is to improve the protection of Chinese crops. The company operates nine crude-oil refineries in China, but also owns the popular Malan Noodle fast-food restaurant chain.
4. What has the company been buying?
Since 2006, ChemChina has spent billions of dollars on overseas acquisitions in countries including France, Italy, Germany, Israel and the U.K. Its more notable acquisitions include Italian tire maker Pirelli, which it bought for about $7.7 billion last year, and Israel’s Makhteshim Agan Group, the world’s largest maker of generic pesticides, for about $2.4 billion in 2011. Other acquisitions include France’s Adisseo Group and Rhodia, makers of animal feed and organic silicon, respectively, and KraussMaffei Group, a German company that makes equipment to process plastics and rubber.
| Corn | 372-6 | +0-2 |
| Soybeans | 885-6 | -0-4 |
| Wheat | 475-6 | +0-4 |
