Syngenta Moves Forward

One significant move made by the company was the finalization of its sale of Novartis' newly developed Flint fungicide products to Bayer, which was announced Oct. 17. The primary product in this line for turf applications was Compass, which Novartis invested considerable research dollars in and was just beginning to launch when the company was notified by the European anti-trust authorities that it would have to sell off the product for merger approval.

Bayer submitted the winning bid in what was characterized by sources familiar with the process as a very competitive bidding process with multiple pesticide suppliers making offers for the product. The acquisition significantly expands Bayer's presence in the lawn care supplier competition by adding another new chemistry to go along with its popular grub-control product Merit.

In addition, an article in the Greensboro News & Record reported that Syngenta's North American crop protection offices will be located in Greensboro, N.C., the current home of Novartis, and will include between 600 and 750 employees. Meanwhile, Syngenta's smaller, North American corporate office of less than 50 employees will be located in Wilmington, Del., the current home of Astra Zeneca, according to the article.