Syngenta AG stocks slumped by more than nine percent on Monday over fear that the multi-billion deal with Chinese state-owned ChemChina may face regulatory hurdles.

The takeover, which is estimated to be at $43 billion, is the largest foreign direct investment by China till date.

Syngenta shares closed at 397.50 Swiss francs after the end of Monday's trading at Zurich stock exchange. The rate is far from ChemChina's agreed cash offer of $465 per share, which is worth about 462 Swiss francs at current exchange rates.

Like Us on Facebook

It has been reported that Officials from Syngenta and ChemChina met with European Union (EU) anti-trust authorities a week ago to align competition concerns. They had until Oct. 21 to convince EU that the takeover would not offer unfair competitive advantage to the concerned company.

Reports suggested that ChemChina failed to submit the so-called remedies document to anti-trust authorities within the stipulated time.

This means that the EU regulatory body may clear the multi-billion dollar deal unconditionally by Oct. 28, or may open phase two of the investigation that will delay the deal between Syngenta and ChemChina for another five months.

Meanwhile, a Syngenta official said the company remains confident that the deal will be sealed by yearend. The official later clarified that he was only repeating the earlier comment made by the company on July 22.

Analysts have described EU's cautious approach to the multi-billion dollar deal as "conservative" and "unsatisfied."  

Interestingly, Syngenta-Chemchina deal faced no hurdles from US regulators.

The US national-security regulator approved the $43 billion dollar takeover without any major conditions in August. The approval was considered crucial for Chemchina's long-standing ambition to make a deep dent into the lucrative US market.

Chemchina considers Syngenta's deal and acquisition as a critical step in its global ambition. The state-owned Chinese chemical giant apparently made headlines recently for its possible merger with Sinochem, one of its main rivals.

TagsSyngenta AG, ChemChina Syngenta Deal, ChemChina, china