ZURICH, Switzerland: Syngenta's advisers are targeting a valuation of at least US$66 billion for the Swiss-Chinese agrochemicals group's planned Hong Kong listing, which could raise as much as $10 billion and rank among the world's largest IPOs expected next year.

Two people familiar with the matter said UBS and China International Capital Corp are marketing the Basel-based seeds and crop-protection company at 15 to 20 times its expected 2026 core earnings, or EBITDA.

Based on Syngenta's 2025 EBITDA of $4.4 billion, that would value the company at between $66 billion and $88 billion.

Syngenta, controlled by China's state-owned Sinochem, plans to sell a 10 percent to 20 percent stake and use the proceeds to reduce debt and invest in crop-protection products and seeds.

The company has already filed for the flotation, which could raise between $5 billion and $10 billion.

Three sources said the IPO could still happen before the end of 2026, though an early-2027 debut was considered more likely.

"There's confidence a January window is feasible," one source said.

Bankers are meeting investors in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing, with marketing also planned in Frankfurt and London.

The targeted valuation reflects efforts to position Syngenta more as a biotechnology company than a chemicals producer, the sources said. One source said its crop-protection products and pipeline of new seed varieties resistant to diseases and pests also supported a higher valuation.

China CITIC Bank and Bank of America are helping to run the IPO alongside UBS and CICC. Syngenta and UBS declined to comment, while CICC, China CITIC Bank and Bank of America did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Some Asian investors are also showing renewed interest in more traditional industrial companies as enthusiasm for artificial intelligence-related stocks cools, the sources said.

Hong Kong's IPO market has boomed this year. A total of 118 newly listed companies raised HK$388 billion ($49.5 billion) in the first nine months of 2026, up 106 percent from the same period last year, according to HKEX data.

Sentiment weakened this month, however, following a selloff in AI-related stocks that raised concerns about valuations and returns on AI spending. Changzhou Microintelligence and Jiangsu Slender West Lake Culture and Tourism postponed their offerings, citing market conditions.

A successful listing would revive Sinochem's efforts to take Syngenta public after it withdrew a proposed Shanghai listing in 2024.

Sinochem acquired Syngenta for $43 billion in 2017.

Syngenta competes with BASF, Bayer, and Corteva and sells seeds, herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides, along with biological and digital farming products. The company has more than 50,000 employees in over 90 countries.