CEO Says Syngenta Could Pursue Additional Assets Following Merger

Pesticide giant Syngenta might not be done wheeling and dealing even as it pursues a $43 billion merger with ChemChina.

CEO Erik Fyrwald told a conference in Syngenta's native Switzerland that "many, many seed companies around the world” could be looking for buyers, according to Bloomberg.

The report suggested that Syngenta could particularly be interested in operations spun off due to antitrust reviews of other agrichemical industry mergers.

Proposed tie-ups between Syngenta and ChemChina, Bayer and Monsanto and Dow and DuPont spurred concerns about decreased competition in an already consolidated sector. Regulators could stipulate that those companies spin off some assets in order to complete their mergers.

Fyrwald, meanwhile, said that Syngenta will retain some autonomy even after the completion of the ChemChina deal and noted that its stock could be relisted.

Syngenta now expects its merger to be finalized this summer after it was pushed back due to continued antitrust reviews in the European Union.