Saskatoon-based Nutrien Ltd. announced on Oct. 24 that it has completed the sale of its minority equity investment in Arab Potash Co. (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 Inc. and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. 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 represent the entirety of Nutrien’s 28 percent holdings in APC. Nutrien was the largest APC shareholder, according to Bloomberg, while others 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.
Headquartered in Amman, Jordan, 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. The company in early August (GM Aug. 3, p. 29) posted first-half net profits after tax of JD52.7 million ($74.3 million) on revenues of JD227 million, with six-month potash production volumes reported at 1.21 million mt. APC reported that 37 percent of its first-half potash sales this year went to China and India.