Chinese-led bid for agrichemical firm collapses

A US$2.63 billion bid by a Chinese-led consortium for Australian crop chemical company Nufarm looked set to collapse on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported. The consortium, which comprises China National Chemical Corp and US private equity firms Blackstone and Fox Paine Management, had until Monday evening to conduct due diligence on Nufarm. The Australian target firm said the deadline was too tight to get the deal done. "It was a small window, and there just wasn't enough time to get the approvals from the Australian regulators in time," said a person familiar with the situation. The failure to get a deal doesn't mean the consortium is prevented from bidding for Nufarm at a later date.