K+S Again Rejects – Unchanged – Potash Bid
German potash and salt producer K+S has rejected a renewed attempt by Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan to take over the company. Attached to the letter, the company said, was a proposal for a Business Combination Agreement which it said “addresses the interests of workers and local communities but offers no reliability.”
Pointing out that the offer remained unchanged from the previous approach, Norbert Steiner, CEO of K+S, said the management and supervisory boards “are still convinced that the proposed price of €41 Euro does not at all reflect the fundamental value of K+S.”
“This is true for our existing business but in particular for the value contribution of our Legacy Project in Canada. For this reason alone, also the new proposal of PotashCorp is not in the best interest of the company.”
Steiner reiterated that the commitments proposed by PotashCorp do not provide reliability. “They are foiled by far-reaching restrictions in essential parts and are not effectively enforceable.”
From the perspective of the boards, he said, “the concern remains unchanged that the transaction proposed by PotashCorp puts jobs at risk and that sites and raw material production in Germany might not be maintained.”
