(Yicai) April 1 -- Syngenta Group, a Swiss agrochemicals and seeds giant owned by China National Chemical, has called off its CNY65 billion (USD9 billion) initial public offering on the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange amid a general aversion to big IPOs among Chinese investors.

“After careful consideration of the industry environment and the company's own development strategy, Syngenta has decided to withdraw its application for IPO on the main board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange,” the Basel-based firm announced on March 29. It “voluntarily withdrew” the application, a company source told Yicai.

Syngenta would have been one of the Chinese mainland’s biggest listings this year. The IPO would also have been China’s fourth largest after Agricultural Bank of China's CNY68.5 billion offering, PetroChina's CNY66.8 billion, and China Shenhua Energy's CNY66.6 billion.

Its withdrawal caught the market somewhat off-guard since as late as last November Syngenta officials were still insisting that the firm planned to list in Shanghai this year despite the weak stock market.

Syngenta said it will look to restart the listing process, either in China or elsewhere, when the conditions are right.

Last May, the company pulled its IPO application from the SEE's Nasdaq-like Star Market, saying that as a global leader in agricultural technology, it would be more suited to the main board under the registration-based IPO system.

China National Chemical, better known as ChemChina, paid USD43 billion for Syngenta in 2017, making it the largest acquisition of a foreign business by a Chinese company. Its operations were merged with ChemChina’s domestic agrochemical business in 2020.

Syngenta had planned to use CNY20.8 billion of the listing proceeds on global acquisitions, CNY7.8 billion to expand its modern agriculture platform, CNY3.9 billion to hike, upgrade, and maintain productive assets and on other capital expenditure, and CNY19.5 billion to pay its long-term debt, according to its IPO prospectus.

A worldwide leader in crop protection, seeds, and crop nutrition, the company has four units: Syngenta Crop Protection in Switzerland, Syngenta Seeds in the United States, Adama in Israel, and Syngenta Group China. 

“The company will continue to consolidate its market share and enhance its leading position in the global agricultural technology field,” Syngenta noted.

The firm’s operating revenue fell 4 percent to USD32.2 billion in 2023, according to its financial report released on March 29. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization sank 18 percent to USD4.6 billion.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev