CBJ — Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan and Agrium Inc. of Calgary have agreed to merge in a deal that would create a global agricultural giant with an enterprise value of $36 billion U.S. The merger would bring together Saskatoon-based PotashCorp’s huge fertilizer mines with Agrium’s extensive global direct-to-farmer retail network to create an agricultural powerhouse.

The new firm would be the world’s No. 1 producer of potash and No. 2 producer of nitrogen fertilizer with operations in 18 countries and more than 20,000 employees worldwide.

Under terms of the proposed deal, existing Potash shareholders would get 0.4 shares in the new company for every Potash share they own. Agrium shareholders would see their shares converted into 2.23 shares in the new and as yet unnamed company, which would be headquartered in Saskatoon but also have offices in Calgary.

At those ratios, Potash shareholders would own 52% of the new company, while Agrium owners would hold the other 48%. The deal is expected to close in mid-2017.

The Saskatchewan government formed PotashCorp in 1975 as a Crown corporation before it was privatized in 1989.

Agrium was founded in 1931 as part of Cominco and became a publicly traded company in 1993.

@CanBizJournal