Brazil’s antitrust regulator, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), has given the green light for Uralkali PJSC’s acquisition of UPI Norte SA without any restrictions, according to a Bloomberg report, citing the Official Gazette and CADE’s website.
The Russian potash company signed a deal in December to acquire 100 percent of the shares in UPI Norte, a shareholder in Brazilian fertilizer distributor FertGrow SA (GM Dec. 10, 2021). UPI Norte owns 50 percent of FertGrow, according to an Iberianlawyer.com report.
The completion of the transaction will mark Uralkali’s entry into the Brazilian fertilizer distribution market.
The potash company in a December statement said the acquisition of the FertGrow stake “is consistent” with Uralkali’s business strategy, “an important element of which is to ensure flexibility of sales with a focus on developing the company’s own distribution in key markets.”
“The acquisition of a stake in FertGrow will considerably help Uralkali to optimize its operations in Latin America,” Uralkali Trading CEO Alexander Terletskiy said when the acquisition was first announced.
UPI Norte SA shareholders include Keytrade AG, as well as other minority shareholders, according to the Iberianlawyer.com report.