Syngenta

Syngenta Global AG is a global agricultural technology company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. It primarily covers crop protection and seeds for farmers. Syngenta is part of the Syngenta Group, entirely owned by Sinochem, a Chinese state-owned enterprise.

Syngenta was founded in 2000 by the merger of the agrichemical businesses of Novartis and AstraZeneca, and acquired by China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina) in 2017. In 2020, the Syngenta Group was formed, bringing together Syngenta Crop Protection and Syngenta Seeds, Adama, and the agricultural business of Sinochem, now called Syngenta Group China, under a single entity.

Syngenta's primary products include pesticides, selective herbicides, non-selective herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, as well as corn, soya, and biofuel. Syngenta brands include Actara (Thiamethoxam), Agrisure (corn traits), Alto (Cyproconazole), Amistar (azoxystrobin), Avicta, Axial, Bicep II, Bravo, Callisto, Celest, Cruiser (TMX, Thiamethoxam), Dividend, Dual, Durivo, Elatus, Fusilade, Force, Golden Harvest Seeds, Gramoxone, Karate, Northrup-King (NK), Proclaim, Revus, Ridomil, Rogers, Score, Seguris, S&G, Tilt, Topik, Touchdown, Vertimec and Vibrance.

Based in Basel, Switzerland, Syngenta was formed on 13 November 2000 by the merger of Novartis Agribusiness and AstraZeneca Agrochemicals.

In 2004, Syngenta Seeds purchased Garst, the North American corn and soybean business of Advanta, as well as Golden Harvest Seeds.

As of 2014^[update], Syngenta's main competitors were Monsanto Company, BASF, Dow AgroSciences, Bayer CropScience and DuPont Pioneer.

In 2014, Monsanto sought to acquire Syngenta for a reported $40 billion, but Syngenta rejected the offer. Since April 2015, Monsanto and Syngenta had been working with their investment banks Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs respectively on a deal. The U.S. Treasury tried to stop the deal for tax inversion. Syngenta's Board of Directors rejected an even better offer by Monsanto during August 2015, and Monsanto withdrew from the negotiations on 26 August.

In February 2016, ChemChina, a Chinese state-owned enterprise, offered to purchase Syngenta for $43 billion (480 Swiss francs per share), a deal which the company "unanimously recommended to shareholders". In April 2017, the Federal Trade Commission, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and the European Commissioner for Competition approved of the acquisition. This was the largest takeover by a Chinese company to date, and it caused criticism. To secure approval, ChemChina agreed to divest from pesticide production of paraquat, abamectin, and chlorothalonil. The transaction closed on 26 June 2017.