A Chinese investment fund has paid $1.1 billion to purchase Dow Chemical Company’s corn seed business in Brazil, a move Reuters calls a further sign of China’s fast-expanding role in the global seed sector.
The assets, which generated revenue of about $287 million in 2016, are being sold by Dow to meet conditions set by U.S. antitrust regulators for its $130 billion merger with DuPont.
The deal will boost China’s share of the global seed business, which now includes the $43 billion takeover of Syngenta by state-owned ChemChina.
ChemChina officials said recently the company is looking to snap up seed assets that rival Bayer must sell to gain regulatory approval for its takeover of Monsanto.
