Syngenta taps banks for Shanghai IPO at $60 billion valuation

Syngenta Group Co., the agriculture giant owned by China National Chemical Corp., has picked banks for an initial public offering on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style STAR board, according to people familiar with the matter.

China International Capital Corp. and Citic Securities Co. are among advisers for the preparations of the share sale, said the people, asking not to be identified as the information is private. Syngenta could be valued at as much as $60 billion in a listing, which could take place as soon as this year, the people said.

Syngenta has accelerated its IPO plans as Chief Executive Officer Erik Fyrwald told German media that the company has kicked off the process and hopes to list before the end of 2021. The company was aiming for mid-2022 last year.

Details of the IPO could change as deliberations continue and more banks could be added, the people said. A representative for Citic Securities declined to comment, while representatives for Syngenta and CICC didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

An IPO would turn a new page for Syngenta, which went through a reorganization after ChemChina acquired the company for $43 billion in 2017, clinching China’s biggest foreign takeover to date. Syngenta Group incorporated other ChemChina agricultural units including Adama Ltd. and the agriculture business of Chinese conglomerate Sinochem Corp. last year.

The new Syngenta, headquartered in Switzerland, has about 49,000 employees in more than 100 countries, according to its website. The company now has four business units: Syngenta Seeds, Syngenta Crop Protection, Adama and Syngenta Group China. It reported sales of $7.1 billion for the first quarter in 2021, a 20% increase from $5.9 billion in the same period last year, its latest earnings release shows.