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ChemChina, a Chinese State-owned enterprise, announced on June 8 its acquisition of the Swiss agribusiness Syngenta for a price of $43 billion, Thepaper.cn reported. ChemChina now owns a 94.7 percent share of Syngenta.

With 259 years of history, Syngenta is the world’s largest pesticide producer and third largest seller of seeds. Its sales revenue totaled 90 billion RMB ($13.2 billion) in 2016, with a net profit of 8.4 billion RMB ($1.2 billion). The company's pesticides and seeds accounted for 20 and 8 percent respectively of the global market share that year.

ChemChina, dealing in chemicals, crude oil processing, rubber products and chemical equipment, obtained $41.41 billion in 2015 revenue, and ranked No. 234 on the Fortune Global 500 list in 2016. Since 2006, it has successfully acquired nine leading enterprises, including Italian tire giant Pirelli.

Insiders disclosed that this latest acquisition will benefit both companies, as Syngenta’s pesticide business is conducive to reducing ChemChina’s dependence on petroleum and petroleum products; meanwhile, through cooperation with ChemChina, it will be easier for Syngenta to enter the Chinese and larger Asian market.