Nutrien Ltd., Saskatoon, said on July 27 that it has entered into a definitive agreement with China’s state-owned SDIC Mining Investment Co. Ltd., Beijing, to sell 23,294,614 common shares of Arab Potash Co. (APC) for gross proceeds of $502 million. The announced transaction represents the entirety of Nutrien’s 28 percent holdings in APC.
Nutrien is 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 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).
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.
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 Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. to form Nutrien. The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of this year.
Also, as requested by China and India, Nutrien has already shed its minority stake in Israel Chemicals Ltd. (GM Jan. 19, p. 1) and has recently announced plans to sell its stake in SQM, Santiago, to China’s Tianqi Lithium Corp., Chengdu (GM May 18, p. 1).