The Biggest Chinese M&A In History? Here's How You Could've Heard First And Made Money

Syngenta AG (ADR) SYT is one stock that has bucked the market selloff in a big way. The agribusiness giant’s shares are up 11 percent since the beginning of November 2015; the Dow is down 10.3 percent over that time. So why the massive outperformance?

Developments in the M&A market are largely responsible. On December 9, Benzinga reported that sources familiar with the matter said Syngenta was considering a sale to China National Chemical Corp, also known as ChemChina. HSBC was reportedly working on the deal.

Sources told Benzinga the value of the deal was expected to be for 44 billion Swiss francs -- a little over $44 billion USD -- trumping a previous $42 billion ChemChina bid for Syngenta in November. Syngenta officials said they had “no comments to make” on the matter, an analyst for HSBC declined to comment, and ChemChina couldn’t be reached for comment.

Syngenta Stock Reaction Since Benzinga Report

On December 9, the day of the Benzinga report, Syngenta shares rose 7.8 percent. An investor who bought $10,000 worth of the stock immediately after the report was published would have made a profit of $780 in a day, and would have sustained that profit for the rest of December.

Check out the minute-to-minute action in the graph below.

Syngenta-ChemChina Still Developing

While the companies involved declined to comment at the time of the Benzinga report, several developments came to light in the following weeks. On December 18, Syngenta interim Chief Executive John Ramsay told Dow Jones a deal with ChemChina would face less regulation than with a company in the West.

Several weeks later, on January 15, Bloomberg reported a deal between ChemChina and Syngenta could be reached by early February. Bloomberg’s sources expected the deal to be valued near $44 billion and said both sides are in “advanced takeover talks.”

This latest development pushed Syngenta shares up nearly 3 percent in the second week of January. The broader market fell 2 percent over that time.

Take Action

Nothing is set in stone. But since Benzinga’s initial report, Syngenta has dramatically outperformed the market and the story isn’t over. Corroboration from Dow Jones and Bloomberg give more legs to the idea that Syngenta and ChemChina could combine to form the largest Chinese merger with a U.S. company ever.

Watch more developments on the Benzinga Pro Newswire and be the first to act.