K+S buys Morton Salt

Kassel, Germany-Fertilizer and salt company K+S Aktiengesellschaft said April 2 that it has agreed to buy Morton International Inc. from Rohm and Haas Co., a unit of The Dow Chemical Co., for US$1.675 billion. The deal is expected to close at mid-year, assuming regulatory approvals. K+S said the acquisition will make it the North American – and global – leader in salt. In 2008, Morton Salt had revenues of US$1.2 billion and EBITDA of $270 million. Dow was required to shed Morton after its recent acquisition of Rohm and Haas. Last month K+S was rumored to be readying a bid for U.S.-based Compass Minerals (GM March 9, p. 11), which is in the salt and specialty fertilizer business. K+S never confirmed those rumors, and analysts speculated that Compass shares ran up in price, which could have made that acquisition less attractive.