Nufarm assessing global acquisitions

Crop protection company Nufarm says it is considering a number of acquisitions in response to speculation it could pounce on assets held by China National Chemical Corporation and possibly US-based crop protection group Albaugh.

Nufarm has been examining how it can benefit from a suite of mega-mergers among global agrichemical giants. State-owned ChemChina sealed the nation's biggest foreign deal earlier this year with its buyout of Synengta for $US43 billion. Other mergers include the $US130 billion union between Dow Chemical and DuPont and Bayer's $US66 billion play for Monsanto.

Speculation has been rife for most of the year that Nufarm would be involved in buying up assets shaken free in the consolidation. But it missed out in the Dow-DuPont tie-up, with US-based FMC stitching up a $1.6 billion asset swap to grab DuPont's crop protection assets. It was a deal sized viewed as too large for Nufarm to swallow.

Nufarm said it continues "to consider opportunities which may result from consolidation in the global agrichemical industry".