Swiss seed giant Syngenta ‘plans $5bn Hong Kong IPO’

Syngenta called off a previous IPO plan Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Syngenta has confidentially filed for a Hong Kong initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter, as it moves ahead with a share sale that was delayed by the impact of the war in the Middle East.

The Chinese-owned seed and pesticide company is considering seeking about $5 billion in the IPO, the people said. It’s aiming to list next year pending regulatory approvals, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

An IPO of Switzerland-based Syngenta would be one of the biggest Hong Kong listings in recent years. Companies have already completed $47 billion of IPOs in the city this year, more than double the tally for the same period in 2025, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Details are still being finalised and targets including the timing and size of the IPO might change, the people said.

+Inside Syngenta: Behind the complicated image

A Syngenta spokesperson declined to comment.

Syngenta had filed for an IPO in Shanghai in 2021 but pulled the application three years later, citing volatile markets. Hong Kong then loomed into view, with the company at one point considering submitting a listing application in June this year.

But volatility struck again with the war in Iran disrupting industry supplies and prices. There was a shift within Syngenta too, as Hengde Qin became chief executive officer in August, taking over from Jeff Rowe, a key advocate for the IPO.

Syngenta makes crop protection products including herbicides, insecticides and fungicides, and also develops seed varieties for crops such as corn, soybean, sunflowers, cereals and vegetable seeds. China National Chemical Corp, or ChemChina, acquired the company in 2017. ChemChina was later absorbed into Sinochem Holdings Corp.

In addition to the challenges faced by the agricultural sector, the company could take longer to get approvals for the listing. It may need to seek additional signoffs given it operates in the agricultural seed business, which is seen as a particularly sensitive industry, Bloomberg News has reported.

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