Agrium Inc. and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. have announced that their proposed merger of equals transaction has been approved by India.
An Indian appellate court has approved a settlement reached between the merger parties and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and has directed the CCI to issue a clearance order. Approval by the CCI is conditional on the companies’ commitment to divest PotashCorp’s minority shareholdings in Arab Potash Co. Israel Chemicals Ltd and Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. within an 18 month period after the order issuance. The companies are permitted to consummate the merger before the divestments.
The merger has been granted unconditional clearance in Canada, Russia and Brazil. The regulatory review and approval process is still on going in the US and China, and the parties are reportedly expecting to close the transaction by the end of 4Q17.
Once the merger transaction closes, the new company will be called Nutrien. The company will be a major global provider of crop inputs and services, and will play a significant role in ‘feeding the future’ by helping growers to increase food production sustainably.
Source: World Fertilizer
Eastman Chemical Co. (Kingsport, Tenn.) announced it has acquired Ai-Red Technology (Dalian) Co., Ltd., a manufacturer and supplier of paint protection and window film for auto and architectural markets in the Asia Pacific region.
BASF and Israeli packager StePac have joined forces to create the “next generation” of fresh produce packaging. BASF will provide StePac with greater flexibility to advance contact-sensitive packaging formats to a higher sustainability standard by supplying StePac with Ultramid Ccycled – a chemically recycled polyamide 6.
TotalEnergies’ biorefinery in La Mède, France, allows direct access to renewable feedstock for its drop-in RE:newable polymer range derived from bio-based products. The company claims these polymers retain virgin-like properties.