STATE-OWNED Chinese chemicals group ChemChina is ready to offer more concessions to win European Union (EU) antitrust approval for its US$43 billion bid for Swiss pesticide and seed group Syngenta, a source with direct knowledge of the process said.

    Clinching China’s biggest-ever foreign acquisition is taking longer than planned amid a flurry of deals in the agriculture sector that Syngenta, the world’s biggest pesticides maker, said Tuesday had swamped competition watchdogs.

    Syngenta expects the transaction to close around the end of March 2017, rather than this year as first planned, but insisted it would go ahead despite increased scrutiny by watchdogs gauging the impact of big deals on farmers and consumers.

    Syngenta’s deal with ChemChina is one of two under EU scrutiny, while another mega deal involving Bayer and Monsanto is expected to land on the regulator’s desk in coming months.

    Bayer and Monsanto have not formally requested EU approval but the European Commission has to consider this deal as well when assessing the ChemChina and Syngenta linkup, and another deal involving DuPont and Dow Chemical, to take into account the changing landscape, said an EU official.(SD-Agencies)