Wilmington, Del.-A group of minority shareholders is claiming in a suit that Cargill Inc.’s plan to sell its stake in The Mosaic Co. would leave the investors in an unfair position and should not be allowed to proceed. Cargill said in January (GM Jan. 24, p. 1) that it would exchange its 64 percent stake in Mosaic, or 286 million shares, for Cargill stock and debt. But the action by the City of Lakeland, Fla., Employee Pension Plan claims the deal is “not entirely fair” and will give Cargill more valuable stock and increase its voting power to 89 percent at the expense of minority shareholders, who would see their voting power decrease from 36 percent to 11 percent. “The transaction will result in a substantial liquidation of Cargill’s equity position in Mosaic while enabling Cargill’s stockholders to retain sufficient power to elect the entire board,” the pension plan asserted in the court papers, a copy of which was obtained by Green Markets from the law firm of Prickett Jones & Elliot, which represents the plan. “As Mosaic’s controlling stockholder, Cargill stands on both sides of the transactions and therefore bears the burden of proving entire fairness. Cargill cannot meet this burden. The initiation, timing and purpose of the transactions were all to serve Cargill’s interest.” The pension plan is requesting that the court enjoin Mosaic and Cargill from moving forward with the transaction.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain