The Chinese chemicals group ChemChina has been given the go-ahead for its takeover of Swiss agrochemicals group Syngenta. ChemChina made its takeover bid for the company in March 2016. Subsequently, all of the necessary clearances have been obtained from the antitrust authorities following the successful completion of all necessary investment controls.
Among other things, Gleiss Lutz advised Syngenta on the global merger and investment control aspects of the transaction. Gleiss Lutz was involved in the merger control proceedings at EU level and coordinated the merger control filings with the competent authorities in more than 20 countries, including Brazil, India, Mexico, Russia and China. The last authority to give the green light was the Indian Competition Commission on 17 May. Gleiss Lutz was also responsible for coordinating the worldwide investment control proceedings. Employment specialists at the firm also looked into the participation rights of employee representatives worldwide.
In February 2017 the China Business Law Journal hailed the takeover as the “Deal of the Year”. With a volume of some 43 billion dollars, this is the largest foreign takeover by a Chinese company to date.
The Gleiss Lutz team comprised the following lawyers: Dr. Ingo Brinker (lead, partner), Dr. Iris Benedikt-Buckenleib (counsel), Daniela Mariotti (associate) (all competition/antitrust, Munich), Dr. Jacob von Andreae (partner, public law/investment control, Düsseldorf), Dr. Thomas Winzer (partner, employment, Frankfurt).
With a workforce of more than 28,000 across 90 countries, Syngenta is one of the largest agrochemical groups worldwide. Gleiss Lutz frequently acts for Syngenta, including on international M&A transactions, such as the purchase of the German and Polish winter wheat and winter oilseed rape business from the Swedish Lantmännen Group.
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