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Mumbai: China National
Chemical Corp (ChemChina) jointly with private equity firm Blackstone Group is
making an over $3.4 billion offer to acquire Australian agrochemicals producer
Nufarm Ltd. In
a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, Nufarm said it is considering
a nearly $3.4 billion acquisition offer, which would open a door to private-equity
players. Nufarm
is the world''s No 2 generic farm chemicals company behind Israel''s Makhteshim
Agan Industries. The
Sidney stock exchange halted trading of Nufarm shares, as the company said it
expects to make an announcement before the market opens Monday. Nufarm,
a maker of chemicals that protect crops against disease, pests and weeds, rejected
an earlier bid by China National BlueStar (Group) Corp for $15.93 (Australian
dollar 17.10) a share, Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post reported on
Wednesday. That offer would have valued the company around $2.7 billion. Blackstone
Group LP recently took a 20 per cent stake in BlueStar. Nufarm
said it had received a letter tied to earlier takeover talks but did not say whom
it was from. The company said it would say more by Monday. ChemChina''s
bid marks is its latest push offshore, which began in 2005, when it bought a European
silicone business Rhodia of France and acquired Australia''s top polyethylene producer,
Qenos, from Exxon Mobil and Orica Ltd. The
company, created in 2004 by putting together several chemical firms under the
erstwhile ministry of chemical industry, grew into a $10 billion business with
120,000 employees under chief executive Aye Ren Jianxin, a former communist youth
league leader. However, it is still overshadowed by state-owned behemoths Sinopec
Corp and PetroChina Co Ltd. Several
other pesticide companies and private equity groups are seen as potential suitors
for Nufarm. Any takeover would need the support of Nufarm chief executive Doug
Rathbone, who owns 17 per cent of the company, and the Goodfellow family in New
Zealand, whose affiliates together own about 10 per cent of the company.
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