Swiss seed giant Syngenta voiced confidence Tuesday that its takeover by China's state-owned chemicals company ChemChina would go ahead despite a possible hold up by regulators in Brussels.

The eye-popping $43-billion (40 billion euros) purchase price agreed in February has cleared regulatory hurdles in the United States, Japan and elsewhere, but Syngenta has said delays by the European Union could drag the process into next year.

"The process of obtaining regulatory approvals is well under way," Syngenta chief executive Erik Fyrwald said in a statement.

"Regulators in the EU and elsewhere have recently requested a large amount of additional information, and we now expect the regulatory process to extend into the first quarter of 2017," he added.

"ChemChina and Syngenta remain fully committed to the transaction and are confident of its closure."

Fyrwald made the comments as the company announced third quarter sales of $2.5 billion, down three percent compared with the same period last year.

The Syngenta chief said it has been "a challenging year for the industry", but he expected the company's seed and agrochemical business would see a bounceback in the fourth quarter.

Syngenta's deal with ChemChina -- also known as the China National Chemical Corp -- has drawn intense global scrutiny as the most lucrative pact in a series that has seen Chinese firms attempt a flurry of overseas acquisitions raging from agriculture to Hollywood to robotics.

Fyrwald's assurances that the takeover would ultimately go through eased markets Tuesday with Syngenta shares selling up 1.8 percent at 404.70 Swiss francs ($405.00) in late afternoon trading.

The shares had plunged 5.8 percent on Monday after news emerged that ChemChina would have to make additional concessions to EU regulators in order to avoid an extended probe.

EU antitrust regulators are due to make a decision by Friday on whether to approve the deal or open an extended probe, Bloomberg said.

bur-bs/mnb/boc

SYNGENTA