Saskatoon-based Nutrien Ltd. announced on Oct. 24 that it has completed the sale of its minority equity investment in Arab Potash Company (APC) to China’s state-owned SDIC Mining Investment Co. Ltd., Beijing, for gross proceeds of $502 million.
Completion of the APC sale was required by the Competition Commission of India and Ministry of Commerce in China in providing their clearance for the merger of Agrium and PotashCorp to form Nutrien. APC is a traditional supplier of potash to China, agreeing to sell about 700,000 mt/y in a contract inked last year (GM Aug. 3, 2017).
Nutrien announced in July (GM July 27, p. 1) that it had entered into a definitive agreement with SDIC to sell its 23,294,614 common shares of APC, which represents the entirety of Nutrien’s 28 percent holdings in APC. Nutrien was the largest APC shareholder, according to Bloomberg. Other majors include the Government of Jordan at 26 percent, Arab Metals Co. at 20 percent, Social Security Corp. at 10.4 percent, and the Government of Iraq at 4.7 percent.
APC said it is the eighth largest potash producer worldwide. Capacity is put at approximately 2.5 million mt/y, according to the Green Markets Global Potash Quarterly.