* Nearing deal worth about 470 SFr/share -sources
* Would mark largest cross-border deal by Chinese buyer
* Syngenta shares up 5.7 percent pct at 400 SFr
(Adds previous Chinese cross-border deals, industry background)
By Arno Schuetze and Pamela Barbaglia
Feb 2 (Reuters) - China's state-owned ChemChina is nearing a
deal to buy Swiss seeds and pesticides group Syngenta SYNN.VX
for around 43 billion Swiss francs ($42.2 billion), two people
familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
The deal, for roughly 470 Swiss francs per share, would be
the biggest cross-border deal involving a Chinese buyer and mark
an acceleration of a shakeup in the global agrochemicals
industry.
It will likely be announced on Wednesday, when Syngenta is
scheduled to release its 2015 results, the people said.
One source said minor adjustments to the price were still
being discussed.
Syngenta's shares jumped as much 8.4 percent and were 5.7
percent higher at 400 francs at 1352 GMT in Zurich.
ChemChina's offer would be at a premium of about 24 percent
to Syngenta's Monday close of 378.40 francs.
Syngenta declined to comment. ChemChina was not immediately
available for comment outside regular business hours.
Bloomberg had reported earlier on Tuesday that the deal
worth 43.7 billion Swiss francs was near. (http://bloom.bg/20DQ4KP)
Syngenta last year spurned takeover approaches from U.S.
seeds giant Monsanto (N:MON) MON.N , arguing it can create value on its
own.
But as agricultural markets deteriorated and major rivals
DuPont (N:DD) DD.N and Dow Chemical Co DOW.N agreed to combine
their seeds and pesticides businesses, Syngenta Chairman Michel
Demare recently conceded that "going it alone is hardly
possible", given what shareholders were expecting.
The likely takeover price would nominally match Monsanto's
revised cash-and-stock bid made last August but the value of
that offer would have fallen along with Monsanto's share price.
ChemChina's move marks another instance of the country's
quest for Western technology and distribution networks.
Similar transactions include last year's buyout of Italian
tyre maker Pirelli by ChemChina. In January,
ChemChina announced the acquisition of German industrial
machinery maker KraussMaffei Group for about $1 billion.
The Chinese government is keen to boost farming productivity
as it seeks to cut reliance on food imports amid limited farm
land, a growing population and higher meat consumption.
A group of Syngenta shareholders said last month it opposed
selling the company to ChemChina and called for the ousting of
the Swiss group's leadership. ID:nL8N1520T6
($1 = 1.0194 Swiss francs)