Prime Picking Time For Fertilizers – US-FOREX.US
After months of diligently tending its hostile bid for fertilizer company CF Industries Holdings, Agrium is finally seeing signs that its rival may be ripe for the picking.Shareholders of CF Industries
don’t appear to agree with the company’s repeated claims that Agrium’s twice-enhanced offer doesn’t fairly value CF’s nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer business. As of Agrium’s midnight deadline for its offer of 40 in cash plus one Agrium share for every CF share, Agrium
said CF stockholders had tendered 30.14 million CF shares, or 62% of outstanding shares, in the deal. Agrium, which has been pursuing the company since mid-February, said it would extend its offer to July 22. The Canadian fertilizer company’s latest version of the deal values CF Industries at 3.8 billion. For its part, CF Industries seems to view Agrium as a nuisance, getting in the way of its bid for Terra Industries
, a Sioux City, Iowa maker of nitrogen products. On Friday, CF Industries extended its offer for all Terra’s outstanding shares to July 10, from June 26.On Tuesday, CF Industries responded to Agrium’s assertion that its offer is better than CF Industries’ other options by reiterating its belief that Agrium’s offer “substantially undervalues” the company. “Our shareholders do not support the price in the offer, and the offer has significant regulatory issues,” said CF Industries Chairman Stephen Wilson. If the past four months are any indication, it will take a lot more than that to deter Agrium. The Calgary-based company’s stock gained 76 cents, or 2.0%, to 39.65 while CF shares added 2.53, or 3.7%, to 71.85. Stocks across the fertilizer sector bloomed during Tuesday’s afternoon trading session. Potash
shares gained 2.35, or 2.7%, to 89.62 and Terra Industries’ shares were up by 83 cents, or 3.4%, at 25.59.
Thomson Reuters contributed to this article.