CNBC-TV18 Newsbreak confirmed: US agrochemical giant FMC sells India business to Crystal Crop for $252 million

US-listed agricultural sciences company FMC Corporation has agreed to sell its India commercial business to domestic crop solutions firm Crystal Crop Protection Limited for $252 million. The deal gives Crystal Crop full control of FMC’s branded crop protection portfolio in India, while freeing up capital for FMC to pare down debt.

CNBC-TV18 had first and exclusively reported on February 6

that Crystal Crop Protection was among the companies eyeing FMC’s India business.

The definitive agreement, announced on Thursday, covers FMC India Private Limited’s entire commercial crop protection operations, including a licence to FMC’s brands sold in India, a preferred supply agreement for certain active ingredients and formulated products, and preferred access to FMC’s future pipeline in the Indian crop protection market.

The sharp fall in deal value from the $450 million price tag reported earlier is notable. It reflects the difficult operating environment for crop protection companies in India, where pricing pressure, channel destocking, and an increasingly competitive generics market have weighed on revenues and margins for multinational agrochemical players. FMC itself had been under sustained pressure from investors to streamline its portfolio, and the India exit was framed as a strategic necessity rather than an opportunistic sale.

FMC had formally announced its intent to exit the India commercial business in July 2025, citing a shift toward a new go-to-market approach and redeployment of resources to its highest-growth global opportunities.
That the process took nearly a year to close, and at a considerably lower valuation, underscores how hard it has been to find buyers willing to pay a premium for a business facing structural headwinds in the Indian market.

In a statement, FMC Chairman and CEO Pierre Brondeau said Crystal Crop is well-positioned to serve Indian farmers with FMC’s innovative portfolio, and reaffirmed that FMC remains committed to India through its ongoing global R&D and manufacturing operations in the country.

Crystal Crop Chairman and Managing Director Ankur Aggarwal said the deal accelerates the company’s ambition to drive innovation across chemical and biological crop protection, and expands access to innovative products for Indian farmers.

The transaction remains subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​