Tuesday 4 March 1997=20
Potash Corp. completes billion-dollar merger=20
REGINA - Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan completed a $1.2-billion US merger =
with Arcadian Corp.
Shareholders in Arcadian, a nitrogen fertilizer company based in =
Memphis, Tenn., voted 99 per cent in favor Tuesday of a merger offer =
that was first launched last September.
"Following the merger, PCS will be the world's largest and most =
diversified fertilizer producer with leading world positions in all =
three basic plant nutrients - potash, phosphate and nitrogen," said Bill =
McMinn, Arcadian's chairman of the board.
Under the deal, PCS paid $25.98 US a share for Arcadian stock, through a =
combination of $12.25 cash and the remainder in stock. The transaction =
is expected to formally close Thursday.
Analyst Edwin Chee of Nesbitt Burns in Toronto said Tuesday the merger =
makes PCS the largest single nitrogen producer in North America and the =
Caribbean.
"It certainly stacks them up versus the existing producers. They are =
truly a fully integrated fertilizer company."
The former Crown corporation, which posted net profits of $209 million =
on revenues of $1.4 billion US last year, acquired two American =
phosphate companies - Texasgulf and White Springs Agricultural Chemicals =
- in 1995.
The Arcadian merger comes less than a week after PCS was blocked in its =
attempts to buy a controlling interest in a German operation.
Last Friday, the German federal cartel office halted a $164-million US =
deal to buy a controlling interest in Kali und Salz Beteiligungs AG =
(K&S), a subsidiary of BASF AG.
K&S has a 51 per cent interest in six German potash mines and commands =
80 per cent of that country's fertilizer market. The company also owns =
two salt mines in Germany, along with a 50 per cent stake in a Canadian =
potash mine in New Brunswick.
PCS will appeal the cartel office's ruling to the German government, =
said spokeswoman Betty-Ann Heggie. A decision is expected by the end of =
June.=20
Germany's federal cartel office has blocked the sale because it believes =
it would eliminate potential competition between PCS and Kali und Salz.
Since the announcement by the cartel office, PCS shares have fallen =
$1.50 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, closing Tuesday at $106.15.
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The Province, Vancouver (c) 1997
Design and contents copyright The Province and Pacific Press (c) 1997=20 |
