PotashCorp confirms ICL discussions
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. today acknowledged the statement made to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange by Israel Corp., particulars of which include: discussions have occurred with the Israeli government officials around potential options to increase PotashCorp’s ownership stake in Israel Chemical Ltd. (Israel Chemicals); and no deal has been formulated, there is no assurance that a deal will be reached, or that parties will sign an agreement.
PotashCorp said it does not intend to comment further on this matter at this time.
The Israeli economic newspaper, the Calcalist, reported earlier today, that PotashCorp CEO Bill Doyle met recently with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an attempt to lobby for the deal. A merger of the two would form the largest fertilizer company in the world.
PotashCorp already owns 13.9 percent of ICL and last December requested permission to increase its stake to 25 percent. Israel’s Finance Ministry approved the deal but the country’s Anti-Trust Commission expressed several reservations. Recently, analysts and a PotashCorp official had indicated the company might shed its minority stake since it has been unable to gain majority status.
The report said that formal negotiations between PotashCorp and Israel Corp., which owns the majority stake in ICL, would only get underway once the Israeli government gives its approval to such a deal. Such a deal would be considered highly controversial as it would give a foreign company control over local natural resources from the Dead Sea. ICL was privatized in the mid-90s. However, the Israeli government retained a golden share at the time which enables it to protect state interests.
ICL trades on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and has a market valuation of $15 billion. In today’s trading the ICL share price on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange is up by 4.65 percent and Israel Corp. is up by 5.32 percent in very heavy trading.