Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. last week acquired another 2 percent in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM), bringing its total stake up to 27 percent. While some analysts speculated that this might signal a takeover attempt by PotashCorp, the company said it simply saw an opportunity to add to its investment and took it, acquiring 6.1 million shares at a cost of US$75.5 million. PotashCorp and Yara International are two of the major shareholders in SQM.
There was a slight uptick in SQM stock earlier in the week, with some citing the PotashCorp buy as one reason. SQM results have improved each quarter for the past 21 straight quarters. Its results for third quarter 2006 will be released Oct. 24.
In other SQM news, Soquimich European Holdings B.V. (SEH), a unit of SQM, and Yara Italy SPA, a unit of Yara International ASA that forms a part of the controlling group of SQM, in September executed in Italy a sales and purchase agreement by which SEH sold to Yara all rights that SEH had in the Italian society Impronta S.R.L., which represents 50 percent of the total rights in Impronta. The agreement involves a payment of Euros 623,000 paid in cash.
Impronta will continue with the distribution of SQM’s specialty plant nutrients in Italy.