Italian Court Upholds Veto on Chinese Purchase of Seed Producer

An Italian administrative court has ruled that a government veto on the purchase of seed producer Verisem by Chinese-owned agrochemicals giant Syngenta is valid, rejecting appeals from both firms, two sources close to the matter said.

Prime Minister Mario Draghi blocked the proposed takeover last October, the second time he’s used special powers to stop an undesired bid on a strategic industry. During 14 months in office, he has issued a total of four vetoes.

At the time of the government’s decision, Italian agriculture lobby Coldiretti claimed Syngenta’s acquisition would shift to Asia global control of seeds for vegetable and herb production.

Swiss-based Syngenta, which was bought by state-owned ChemChina for $43 billion in 2017, had offered around 200 million euros ($216.24 million) to buy Verisem, sources said.

Reuters, with editing by Neal McGrath

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Tags: Agriculture Technology Bilateral Trade

Neal McGrath

Neal McGrath is a New York-based financial journalist. Neal started his career covering the Asia-Pacific region for the Economist Intelligence Unit, then joined Asian Business magazine. He's subsequently held a variety of editorial positions covering business, economics, finance and sustainability. Neal has lived and worked in Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany and the US.