Australian firm decides to join hands with Sumitomo Chemical

Chemicals trader Sinochem Corp said yesterday that its A$2.6 billion ($2.3 billion) takeover offer of Nufarm Ltd had been rejected, ending six months of discussions between the two companies.

Australian farm chemicals maker Nufarm did not accept Sinochem's revised offer of A$12 per share and decided to terminate discussions, the Beijing-based company said in a statement yesterday.

Sinochem "regrets" Nufarm's decision to decline the offer, said the statement.

Nufarm has instead executed a Memorandum of Understanding with Japan's Sumitomo Chemical Co, under which Sumitomo will acquire a 20 percent stake in Nufarm for A$14 cash per share through a tender offer.

Analysts said the termination of the bid is mainly due to Sinochem's lower offer.

"It is not a surprise that the bid failed and it won't deter Sinochem's plan to continue seeking overseas targets to expand," Bloomberg quoted Ni Xiaoman, an analyst at BOC International Ltd, as saying.

Sinochem reduced its offer for Nufarm to A$12 from A$13 earlier this month. According to a Nufarm statement yesterday, the revised offer price undervalues the Australian firm.

But Sinochem said it considered the revised offer to be fair and reasonable. "Given the challenging and complicated environment in which Nufarm is operating in the future, Sinochem strongly believes that the revised offer was fair and in the best interests of all parties," said the statement.

Sinochem has built up a complete industrial chain in research and development, production and distribution as well as a leading market position in China's agrochemical sector. The company will continue to strengthen its cooperation with the world's agrochemical enterprises, it said on its website.

As China's fourth largest petrochemical company, Sinochem has accelerated its overseas expansion in many areas recently.

Reuters reported yesterday that South Korea's state-run oil company bought Kazakh oil developer Sumbe for $335 million, after talks with Sinochem for the Central Asian oil assets apparently fell through.

Industry sources had previously said Sinochem was close to a $320 million deal to buy Sumbe. But a spokesman with Sinochem in Beijing yesterday told China Daily that she was not aware of the matter.