Syngenta
| Syngenta AG
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | November 13, 2000 |
| Seat | Basel , Switzerland |
| management |
Erik Fyrwald ( CEO ) Gaoning Ning ( Chairman of the Board ) |
| Number of employees | 28,700 (September 2015) |
| sales | $ 13.4 billion (2015) |
| Branch | Agrochemistry |
| Website | syngenta.com |
Syngenta is one of the world's largest groups in the agricultural business and a subsidiary of ChemChina . The company is market leader in chemical crop protection products (fungicides, herbicides, insecticides: Syngenta Crop Protection ) and third in commercial seeds (corn, soy, sunflower, rape, sugar beet, cereals: Syngenta Seeds ). Revenue in 2015 (2014) was 13.4 (15.1) billion US dollars. Syngenta employs 28,700 people in over 90 countries. The biggest competitor is Bayer . Syngenta is also active in biotechnology .
history
The company was formed on November 13, 2000 from a merger of the agricultural divisions of Novartis (61% of the share capital) and AstraZeneca (39%). Since then, numerous company takeovers and collaborations in these areas of activity have taken place.
A milestone in the company's history was 2001, the complete DNA sequencing of the rice - genome by the genome research center of Syngenta (in collaboration with Myriad Genetics Inc. ). The company also belonged to the Golden Rice research consortium and holds some patents for this new breed , but has declared that it has waived corresponding license payments so that farmers can propagate their own seeds free of charge after crossing local rice varieties . In 2003 Syngenta announced the launch of the world's first hybrid barley variety in the UK , named Colossus .
The company is headquartered in Basel ( CH ) and today has three important research locations in Stein (CH), Bracknell ( UK ) and North Carolina ( USA ). Other locations in Switzerland are Monthey, Kaisten, Diesdorf and Münchwilen AG.
On May 8, 2015, a takeover offer from US competitor Monsanto became known. Syngenta had rejected the offer, whereupon Monsanto withdrew the takeover offer on August 26, 2015. In addition to Monsanto , other companies such as DuPont or BASF were named as possible cooperation partners in the agricultural business, which is characterized by company mergers .
CEO Michael Mack resigned at the end of October 2015, CFO John Ramsay took over the management on an interim basis .
In autumn 2015, another competitor, the Chinese state-owned company ChemChina, showed interest in taking over Syngenta . If the deal is concluded, this would be the largest acquisition by a Chinese company abroad to date. On February 3, 2016, Syngenta confirmed a takeover offer valued at CHF 43.7 billion. Syngenta's Board of Directors recommended that its shareholders accept the offer. As early as February 3, 2016, it was confirmed that the state-owned China National Chemical Corporation was offering a net price of CHF 480 per Syngenta share. Critical comments on this planned takeover were not lacking. After the main offer period, over 80% of the shareholders tendered their shares to ChemChina. Another condition for the takeover was fulfilled. On June 13, 2017, it was announced that ChemChina holds 98 percent of Syngenta's shares. In spring 2020, the Chinese state corporations ChemChina and Sinochem announced that both companies wanted to bundle their agricultural businesses in a new holding company called the Syngenta Group . In this structure, Syngenta and the 74% owned company Adama are combined with the agricultural divisions of ChemChina and Sinochem. This creates the largest agrochemical company in the world.
Products and effects
The herbicide atrazine was banned in the EU in 2004 because its residues were often detectable in groundwater. In the USA in 2003 around 34,500 tons of atrazine were still used annually .
criticism
Critics accused the company of its commitment in the field of genetic engineering . Moreover, it was Syngenta accused by the sale of the herbicide paraquat to take poisoning and deaths of farm workers into account. This product should, for example, in developing countries on palm oil - plantations , contrary to the instructions for use of the manufacturer, be used without the necessary protective clothing. Paraquat is also often used on sugar cane plantations in poor countries, especially in Central America. Paraquat is banned in the EU and Switzerland also because of its high human toxicity. In 2012, the group was therefore nominated for the negative Public Eye Award .
As part of protests against the company, Syngenta plants were stormed by the farmers' movement Via Campesina , in October 2006 in southern Brazil and in December 2007 in the northeast near Cajazeiras ; parts of the company facilities were destroyed and two people died. In order to end the conflict, Syngenta handed over the research farm to the Brazilian regional administration in October 2008, which announced that it would produce seeds of regional varieties on this farm in the future.
Web links
- Bernard Degen : Syngenta. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Syngenta on the ETHorama platform
- Syngenta website in German
- Erik Fyrwald: "I learned a lot from the Chinese" , SZ Monday interview from February 3, 2019, accessed on February 4, 2019
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Annual Report 2015 ( Memento of the original from April 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 7.3 MB)
- ↑ What Syngenta thinks about… ( Memento of the original dated November 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Opinions on issues on Syngenta's website, undated, last accessed February 3, 2016.
- ↑ Monsanto reaches for Syngenta. WirtschaftsWoche, May 8, 2015
- ↑ Monsanto gives up advertising for Syngenta. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, August 27, 2015, p. 25
- ↑ Waiting for the big wave of consolidation , Neue Zürcher Zeitung, November 18, 2015.
- ↑ Syngenta boss Mack resigns ( memento of the original from January 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Econo , October 23, 2015
- ↑ A chemical giant with a steady hand , Neue Zürcher Zeitung, December 21, 2016.
- ↑ China offers $ 43 billion for Syngenta , Faz.net, February 3, 2016, accessed February 3, 2016.
- ↑ The Board of Directors does not oppose , Neue Zürcher Zeitung, February 3, 2016.
- ↑ The Chinese are coming , Neue Zürcher Zeitung, February 3, 2016
- ^ "Syngenta media release" , July 13, 2017, accessed December 12, 2017.
- ↑ topagrar: Syngenta Group becomes a leading agro-group. Retrieved January 17, 2020 .
- ↑ Frank Ackerman (2007): The Economics of Atrazine (PDF; 302 kB). Int J Occup Environ Health, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 441-449.
- ^ Edward Walsh: EPA Stops Short of Banning Herbicide , Washington Post. February 1, 2003, p. A14. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
- ^ Critical website on Paraquat and Syngenta publiceye.ch
- ↑ EU court bans Syngenta's paraquat weedkiller swissinfo.ch, July 11, 2007.
- ↑ https://www.woz.ch/1925/paraquat-und-glyphosat/ein-toedliches-raetsel-ist-geloest .
- ↑ Paraquat ban in Switzerland: How Syngenta tries to twist unpleasant facts publiceye.ch, October 18, 2011
- ↑ Nominated for the Public Eye People's Award 2012: Syngenta publiceye.ch (PDF)
- ↑ Two killed in Brazil landless peasants' protest Reuters, October 22, 2007 accessed October 21, 2017th
- ↑ M. Raupp: Swiss Syngenta hands over field test in Brazil gmoforum.agrobiology.eu, October 27, 2008 (English)
