According to a group of Syngenta investors, the company is reconsidering its decision to sell its vegetable and flowers seeds businesses.
According to the Alliance of Critical Syngenta Shareholders, not only is the company thinking of holding off on the sale of those two divisions, but it may also reconsider its recently-announced share buyback.
In a letter to its members posted on its website, the group’s managing director Folke Rauscher says he has been “left with a sense that Syngenta’s previously-announced share buy-back would not occur if the divestitures did not proceed, as those divestitures were necessary to fund the share buy-back.”
On Nov. 26, representatives of the Alliance met Syngenta Chairman Michel Demaré, Head of Legal and Taxes Christoph Mäder and Head of Media Relations Jennifer Gough, in order “to ask a number of questions raised by our members.” Other issues discussed included who might replace Mike Mack, who recently stepped down as CEO, and a recent class-action lawsuit filed against Syngenta by 30,000 American farmers.
“Given the recent departure of the CEO and the apparent reversal of their divestiture announcements, it’s not currently clear to us what strategy will be followed to create value for shareowners. We await further word and action from Mr. Demaré on the concrete changes he will make in order to set the company on the right course,” Rauscher says in the letter.
The full letter can be viewed here: http://www.critical-syngenta-shareholders.com/en-us/news/letter-after-meeting.html
