FMC said the extension had been agreed due to the recent U.S. government shutdown which interrupted the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) ability to review the transaction.

"The merger agreement's end-date has been extended to August 6, 2019, or such earlier date on which there has been 60 consecutive days of full funding of the FTC's operations," it said in a brief statement.

This is the second time that FMC has been forced to extend the deadline. It agreed to buy NxStage in Aug. 2017 and extended the deadline for the deal last October until Feb. 5 .

(Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Riham Alkousaa)