ChemChina to file for anti-trust approval in US for takeover

China's state-owned chemical corporation ChemChina has asked US anti-trust regulators to greenlight its $43 billion acquisition of Swiss seed giant Syngenta, a report said Friday.

China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) has filed for approval from the Federal Trade Commission and the process is on track, Bloomberg News reported.

Winning the approval is a critical step towards wrapping up the biggest overseas takeover ever for a Chinese firm.

US regulators have been a stumbling block for other Chinese deals. In December, American President Barack Obama blocked a Chinese company's purchase of German semiconductor equipment maker Aixtron over security concerns, resulting in the termination of the deal a few days later.

Bloomberg said the proposed deal, announced last February, has faced delays as competition authorities are concerned the acquisition might raise prices or reduce choice for crop-protection products sold to farmers, and ChemChina has extended its offer for Syngenta numerous times.

The EU announced in November that it would probe the deal to see if it would hurt competition as ChemChina also controls Adama, the largest supplier of generic crop protection products in Europe.

ChemChina aims to obtain all regulatory approval in the first quarter of this year, its latest filings showed.

The Chinese firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.