Chinese authorities pressured Swiss agrichemicals and seeds group Syngenta to pull its long-delayed $9 billion Shanghai IPO over worries about its impact on the country’s fragile market, sources claim.
The Chinese state-owned pesticide giant last Friday withdrew its bid for the initial public offering (IPO) saying the decision was taken “after careful consideration of [the] industry environment and the company’s own development strategy”.
Syngenta filed to list on the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange last May seeking to raise $8.98 billion and passed a review by the bourse’s listing committee a month later. Its executives said as recently as last November that Syngenta planned to list in 2024.
The company, however, did not secure a green light from China’s securities regulator or top leaders at the State Council, a prerequisite for blockbuster IPOs to go ahead, said four people familiar with the…
