No merger for fertiliser parent firms (From The Northern Echo)

No merger for fertiliser parent firms

10:14am Tuesday 16th March 2010 in

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PLANS for the parent companies of a Teesside-based UK fertiliser producer to merge seemed to have collapsed last night.

In February, Norway’s Yara International said it had agreed to buy US-based Terra Industries for $4.1bn.

Since October 2007, the two companies have run a 50-50 joint venture, Grow How UK, with factories in Billingham and Cheshire.

The Billingham site primarily manufactures ammonia and nitric acid, key raw materials in Teesside’s chemical industry, which has close ties with GrowHow.

Last night, it emerged Terra’s board had received a “superior proposal” of $4.74bn from US company CF Industries, which withdrew from a hostile takeover of Terra in January.

Terra had given Yara five working days to match the offer, but last night the company said it had no interest in participating in a bidding war.

Yara’s chief executive Jorgen Haslestad said: “Obviously we wanted to buy Terra, and we saw a great fit between the companies.

But at the same time we knew that someone could come up with a higher bid.”