By John Revill, Oliver Hirt and Kane Wu
ZURICH/HONG KONG, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Syngenta Group is targeting a Hong Kong listing that could raise as much as $10 billion this year, two sources with knowledge of the deal said, setting the Swiss agrichemicals and seeds group on course for one of the world's biggest IPOs in 2026.
Syngenta, owned by Chinese state group Sinochem, is in talks with several banks about roles in the deal, said the sources, who declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak
to the media.
The company could float up to 20% of its shares, the sources said, adding that the size and timing of the public offering was not final and could change depending on market conditions.
"We do not comment on market rumours. We will continue to assess our capital markets strategies based on market conditions and other relevant factors that are in the best interests of our shareholders," Syngenta said.
"As we have always said, we intend to return to the capital markets when the time is right."
Syngenta is in talks with banks including Goldman Sachs, UBS and Chinese investment bank CICC, among others, for managing the initial public offering, two of the sources said.
The company is also in talks with Morgan Stanley and HSBC, the two sources and two other sources said.
CICC and UBS declined to comment, while Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Syngenta will use part of the IPO proceeds for reducing debt, the sources said.
The potential Hong Kong listing would come nearly two years after Syngenta decided to pull its application for an IPO on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, citing the industry environment and its development strategy.
(Reporting by John Revill and Oliver Hirt in Zurich, Kane Wu in Hong Kong, and Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Elaine Hardcastle)
