ChemChina close to deal to buy Syngenta: Bloomberg

[February 02, 2016]  (Reuters) - China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) is close to a deal to buy Swiss agricultural chemicals producer Syngenta AG for about 43.7 billion Swiss francs ($43 billion), Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

ChemChina offered about 470 francs per share in cash to buy Syngenta and a deal could be announced as early as Wednesday, when the Swiss company reports earnings, Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The offer is at a premium of about 24 percent to Syngenta's Monday close of 378.40 francs.

Syngenta's shares were up 6.5 percent at 403.2 francs in afternoon trading in Zurich.

The seeds and crop industry is undergoing a major shake-up, with DuPont <DD.N> and Dow Chemical Co <DOW.N> announcing an all-stock merger in December.

(Reporting by Amrutha Gayathri in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian)

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