VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – The merger of potash and crop fertiliser majors Potash Corp of Saskatchewan and Agrium Inc is making progress on the regulatory front in all remaining jurisdictions, but at a slower-than-expected pace, pushing out the expected closure by about three months to late in the fourth quarter, the companies advised on Thursday.
The transaction, billed as a “merger of equals” that will see the creation of a new $36-billion entity, to be named Nutrien, is working its way through the regulatory review and approval process in several jurisdictions.
In Canada and the US, the parties are working with the Canadian Competition Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission to resolve final issues in superphosphoric acid and nitric acid.
The companies also reported that they had been informed that the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and, independently, the Competition Commission of India, intend to condition their respective approvals of the proposed transaction on the divestment of certain of PotashCorp's offshore minority ownership interests.
The remedies under consideration are not expected to impact the estimated $500-million of annual operating synergies, the companies advised in a joint statement.