Newly formed Nutrien today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, intends to sell 176,088,630 ordinary shares of Israel Chemicals (ICL; Tel Aviv), its entire holding in ICL, in a private secondary offering, subject to customary closing conditions.
The offering is expected to close on 23 January 2018 and the company expects to receive approximately $700 million of net proceeds from the sale.
Shares will be offered only to qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A and to persons outside the United States under Regulation S, the company says. “No sales of shares are intended to be made to any person that, after giving effect to the offering, results in such person or its affiliates becoming a beneficial owner of more than 5% of the outstanding ordinary shares of ICL,” Nutrien said in a statement.
Nutrien, was formed earlier this year through a $36 billion merger of equals between PotashCorp and Agrium. It received approvals to merge from Indian and Chinese antitrust authorities subject to PotashCorp’s divestment of minority stakes in Arab Potash (Amman, Jordan), ICL, and SQM (Santiago, Chile). The parties were permitted to consummate the merger prior to the divestments. PotashCorp owns a 14% share in ICL, which has a government concession to extract potash from Israel’s side of the Dead Sea. ICL also has rights to mine phosphate in the Negev Desert, Israel. PotashCorp also owns a 28% stake in Arab Potash, a producer of potash from the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea. In addition, PotashCorp holds a 32% stake in SQM, a producer of fertilizers, lithium, and iodine. According to local reports, PotashCorp hired investment banks to explore selling its 32% stake in SQM.
Nutrien is the world’s largest provider of crop inputs and services. The company produces and distributes over 25 million metric tons/year of potash, nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers and raw materials globally.
By Natasha Alperowicz
Source: Chemical Week
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