May 18, 2016

Reuters: USDA to join panel reviewing Syngenta, ChemChina deal

The USDA will join the government panel reviewing ChemChina’s planned acquisition of Syngenta, according to Reuters.

U.S. Senators wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew requesting that the U.S. Department of Treasury and USDA be involved in the review of Syngenta’s acquisition by ChemChina.

Here’s more from Reuters:

Lew chairs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews deals for potential national security threats and is comprised of representatives from 16 U.S. agencies including Treasury, Homeland Security and Defense.

The sources asked not to be identified because the USDA’s role in CFIUS has not been publicly disclosed.

While the USDA is not one of the agencies comprising CFIUS, there is precedent of it joining in a review of a deal. In 2013, CFIUS cleared the way for China-based Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd to buy U.S. meat company Smithfield Foods Inc with the USDA’s participation.