Throughout may, mergers and acquisitions between chemical giants took place frequently. Huntsman acquired Clariant and founded it. Recently, Huntsman announced that it has completed the acquisition of IFS Chemical Co., Ltd., a British manufacturer of polyurethane products. Huntsman is building its own polyurethane Kingdom step by step.

At the same time, CHEMCHINA's acquisition of Syngenta is nearing the end. At present, Sinochem has acquired about 94.7% of Syngenta shares. Sinochem said it intends to demand the cancellation of the remaining Syngenta stake if it accepts more than the 98 per cent threshold. And it plans to acquire more shares through market purchase or over-the-counter trading.

If it does not accept 98% of the offer, it will plan a crowding out merger. This also shows the determination of Sinochem to Syngenta.

Crowding merge

Crowding merger means that a company, after gaining control over another company, will expel its minority shareholders from the company by cash delivery in the resolution of merger with the company. The result is not only that the minority shareholders still lose their status as shareholders of the company, but also that the original shareholders can not get the return when they sell shares at a more fair price. Although there are types of exclusion methods for minority shareholders, the most frequently used method is "crowding out merger", because this system is more advantageous than other methods in terms of tax and power transfer procedures.
Buffett's acquisition of Langsheng, a German chemical giant

Buffett's industries involve all walks of life. Last year, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway invested in kinder Morgan, a pipeline company, to increase its bets on the oil industry as oil prices neared a 12-year low.

Later, Buffett said at the 2016 shareholders' meeting that it was a big mistake for them to invest in petrochemical industry.But it has recently been reported that Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway company has acquired a 3% stake in LANXESS, a German specialty chemicals manufacturer. Did Buffett see and predict the prospect of the chemical industry boom, and decide to invest in the chemical industry?

It may be strange for you to mention Langsheng, but I believe you are not strange to Bayer. Longsheng group is a German specialty chemicals group with its headquarters and main business operations in Cologne. In 2004, in order to focus on health care and nutrition business, Bayer separated most of its chemical business and nearly one third of its polymer business, and established an independent company named Lansheng.

In terms of sales, Longsheng is the fourth largest chemical group in Germany. The company's products are mainly concentrated in special chemicals, basic chemicals, fine chemicals, rubber and plastics and other fields.
According to statistics, the total volume of global chemicals M & A transactions in the first quarter of 2017 reached US $19.8 billion, down 67% and 57% respectively from the first quarter of 2016 and the fourth quarter of 2016. The number of transactions fell to 28 in the quarter. At the same time, the average deal size reached $700 million, down 45% from the previous quarter.

The year-on-year M & A has declined, but the special chemicals business is the main driving force for M & A in the chemical industry, accounting for 50% of transactions in this quarter.

Moreover, Asia and Oceania continue to promote the chemical industry M & a market, accounting for 55% of the transaction volume and 64% of the transaction volume in the target region. In the first quarter, the momentum of chemical industry M & A in Asia Pacific region was high.