Swiss agricultural chemicals and seeds company Syngenta has submitted a confidential Hong Kong listing application, aiming to raise US$5 billion (HK$39 billion), Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
Syngenta, which is controlled by Chinese state-owned Sinochem, delayed its initial public offering plan previously as the Middle East conflict has disrupted crop and fertilizer markets, the report said.
If the company's listing plan gets the green light from regulators, it's expected to go public as early as next year, which could be one of the largest Hong Kong IPOs in recent years, according to the report.
For the first half of the year, the firm reported a 2 percent year-on-year decrease in sales to US$12.2 billion, primarily due to business restructuring, specifically the reduction of the low-margin grain trading business in China.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization inched up 2 percent to US$2.4 billion during the period, data from Syngenta showed.
