Compass Minerals, Overland Park, Kan., said on April 8 it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell certain of its North America micronutrient assets to Koch Agronomic Services LLC, a subsidiary of Koch Industries Inc., Wichita, for approximately $60.25 million, payable at closing and subject to a closing inventory adjustment. Compass Minerals will sell substantially all assets related to the company’s Wolf Trax®, Rocket Seeds®, and Hydro Bullet™ micronutrient product lines to Koch.
“Today’s announcement, combined with the previously announced sale of our South America specialty plant nutrition business, highlights our strategic focus on strengthening our balance sheet and maximizing the productivity of our core operations,” said Kevin S. Crutchfield, President and CEO. “We look forward to continuing to drive value for all stakeholders while producing and marketing an array of raw and manufactured materials supporting the transportation, agricultural, chemical, food, and animal nutrition sectors.”
“At Koch, we strive to provide solutions to make every ton of nutrient applied more efficient than it is today, and this agreement allows us to offer a platform of innovative solutions for nutrients beyond nitrogen,” said Steve Coulter, Koch Senior Vice President. “We look forward to continuing the growth of these products and supporting our customers’ micronutrients needs.”
The sales agreement includes intellectual property, inventory, customer and marketing materials, and research and development projects already in progress for those product lines. The transaction is expected to close second-quarter 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.
While Compass introduced Rocket Seeds and Hydro Bullet to the market in recent years, it bought Wolf Trax in 2014 from a privately-held micronutrient company based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, for C$95 million (GM April 7, 2014).
Compass recently announced the sale of its South American plant nutrition business to ICL Group, Tel Aviv, for $418 million (GM March 26, p. 1). Still on the market is the company’s South American chemicals and water treatment assets.
Compass will now focus on its core salt and sulfate of potash (SOP) businesses, noting that it has three location-advantaged salt mines in North America and the U.K., a number of North American production and packaging facilities, and solar evaporation operations on the Great Salt Lake that produce the majority of the company’s SOP, marketed as Protassium+®.