Calgary-Agrium Inc. said April 18 that it has reached an agreement with staff of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on the terms of a consent decree which Agrium is optimistic will allow for the closing of the acquisition of UAP Holding Corp. by early May, 2008. Agrium is undertaking the divestiture of up to seven retail centers (out of a total of approximately 370 stores) identified by the FTC staff as areas of concern. The decree would allow for the closing of the acquisition prior to finalizing the divestiture of these outlets. The decree is subject to approval of the FTC Commissioners, who will be reviewing the matter. In addition, Agrium announced that it is extending its previously announced tender offer for all of the common stock of UAP until 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on Friday, May 2, 2008. The tender offer was previously set to expire at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on Wednesday, April 30, 2008. As of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on April 17, 2008, approximately 26.25 million shares of common stock of UAP had been tendered in and not withdrawn from the offer. Agrium will re-file its notification and report form on April 18.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain