Clifford Chance has represented CITIC Agri Fund, a Chinese fund part-owned by conglomerate CITIC, on its $1.1 billion acquisition of Dow Chemical’s corn seed business in Brazil, which tapped Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton for counsel. 

Brazilian firms Dias Carneiro Advogados and Pinheiro Neto Advogados were also involved in the deal, acting as Brazilian counsel for CITIC Agri Fund and Dow Chemical, respectively. 

Dow is selling the assets, which generated revenue of about $287 million in 2016, to meet conditions set by Brazilian antitrust regulators for its $130 billion merger with DuPont, reported Reuters. 

The deal is a further sign of China's fast-expanding role in the global seed sector, which has been shook up by a series of major mergers, according to Reuters. These include the $43 billion takeover of Swiss firm Syngenta by state-owned Chemchina in China's largest foreign takeover.  

CC’s China co-managing partner Terence Foo led the M&A team in Beijing, and corporate practice area leader David Brinton led a team in New York. Beijing partner Richard Blewett also worked on the deal, advising on antitrust issues.