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EU opens in-depth probe into ChemChina-Syngenta deal

The European Union’s antitrust watchdog will launch an in-depth probe into China National Chemical Corp.’s plan to buy Syngenta AG to determine if the deal would lower competition for crop-protection products.

The investigation will focus on whether combining Swiss-based Syngenta, which sells about one-fifth of the world’s pesticides, with a ChemChina-owned company that supplies generic alternatives would leave farmers with higher chemical costs or fewer available products, according to the EU.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said Friday that Syngenta and Adama Agricultural Solutions Ltd., an Israeli maker of generic pesticides that is controlled by ChemChina, had “strong overlapping portfolios” of crop-protection products such as herbicides and insecticides. The commission set a deadline for March 15 to complete its review.

“We need to carefully assess whether the proposed merger would lead to higher prices or a reduced choice for farmers,” said EU Antitrust Chief Margrethe Vestager.

The ChemChina-Syngenta deal would ratchet up consolidation in “an industry that is already relatively concentrated,” EU officials added.

Antitrust officials in the bloc are cooperating with counterparts in the U.S., Brazil and Canada as part of the investigation, according to the EU.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal
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