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.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.