The $43 billion takeover deal by ChemChina to purchase Syngenta will likely face a regulatory review from the United States.
Bloomberg reports a U.S. national security watchdog is likely to look closely at the merger on two fronts, whether such a deal would compromise American food security and whether the combined company’s locations would be too close to U.S. military bases, according to several lawyers who deal with security reviews for similar transactions.
Syngenta has several U.S. research and production facilities, which could draw interest from the Committee on Foreign Investment, led by the Treasury Department.
The committee reviews acquisitions of U.S. businesses by foreign investors and can recommend the president block transactions it deems compromising to national security.
However, one lawyer familiar with similar deals suggests a Chinese takeover of Syngenta probably wouldn’t raise national security concerns that are severe enough to scuttle the deal.
