ZURICH (Reuters) - ChemChina's $43 billion planned takeover of Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta has received approval from China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), the two companies said on Wednesday.
"This represents a further step towards the closing of the transaction, which is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2017," they said in a statement.
China's approval comes without any conditions, Syngenta said in an email.
The deal still requires regulatory approval from India after
U.S. and European Union competition authorities gave conditional approval last week and Mexico's anti-trust commission did so this week.
The agreed offer is for $465 per share. Syngenta shares were up 3 percent at 464.20 Swiss francs ($461.06) by 1222 GMT n Wednesday.
The deal is one of several reshaping the agricultural chemicals and seeds market, even as such tie-ups prompt fears among some farmers that bigger, more powerful suppliers could push up prices and economise on developing new herbicides and pesticides.
($1 = 1.0068 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi; editing by Michael Shields and Jason Neely)
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