Syngenta says board unanimously rejected Monsanto offer

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss agrichemicals group Syngenta AG said its board unanimously rejected a revised offer from suitor Monsanto Co. , which then dropped its takeover approach. The offer, which Syngenta said was worth 433 Swiss francs per share as of the market close on Aug. 25, "significantly undervalued the company and was fraught with execution risk," it said in a statement on Wednesday. Recent market volatility had highlighted the "significant risk" for Syngenta shareholders from the structure of the proposal, which it said had not addressed key issues in sufficient detail, the statement added. "We engaged with Monsanto in good faith and highlighted those key issues which required more concrete information in order to continue a dialogue," Syngenta Chairman Michel Demare said. "Our board is confident that Syngenta's long-term prospects remain very attractive with a leading portfolio and a promising pipeline of new products and technologies. We are committed to accelerate shareholder value creation." Syngenta said Monsanto's verbal offer lacked details that would have let it properly assess the proposed new entity, which it said would have been 30 percent owned by Syngenta shareholders. It cited lack of clarity on Monsanto's estimate of total cost and revenue synergies, assumptions on net sales proceeds from seeds and traits, the nature and extent of regulatory covenants Monsanto was prepared to offer, and the assessment of risks and benefits from a tax inversion to Britain. (Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by David Holmes and David Evans)