President Donald Trump's protectionist policies will not prevent the $43 billion takeover of Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta by Chinese chemicals business ChemChina, an "entirely confident" Erik Fyrwald, Syngenta chief executive, told CNBC Wednesday.
Fyrwald confirmed that the deal had already received basic approvals in the U.S. and is on track to close in the second quarter of 2017.
The firms are awaiting full approval from EU and U.S. regulators which is expected by April 12.
"ChemChina and Syngenta have made significant progress towards achieving the necessary regulatory approvals and closing the transaction," Syngenta announced Wednesday, noting it had won approvals from 13 regulatory authorities.
It was awaiting approvals from Brazil, Canada, China, the EU, India, Mexico and the U.S.
The market has been speculating about a potential deal between ChemChina and fellow Chinese chemicals conglomerate Sinochem, however Fyrwald insisted that there have been no discussions that would prevent Sygenta's scheduled takeover.
—Reuters contributed to this report.