OCI to Sell Iowa Fertilizer Stake to Koch for $3.6 Billion
Dutch fertilizer and industrial chemicals group OCI Global has agreed to sell 100% of its equity interests in its US nitrogen fertilizer facility Iowa Fertilizer Company (IFCO), located in Wever, Iowa, to Koch Ag & Energy Solutions (KAES) for $3.6 billion.
The transaction, which is still subject to the approval of the US antitrust authorities and other customary closing conditions, is expected to close in 2024.
Only last week, OCI also announced the sale of its 50% stake in the ammonia and nitrogen fertilizer joint venture Fertiglobe to ADNOC for $3.62 billion.
OCI said that it will use the proceeds of the sale of the Wever fertilizer complex primarily to reduce its debt and deliver a capital return to shareholders. The remaining company wants to explore additional value-enhancing opportunities in the energy transition, building on its low-carbon ammonia and green methanol platforms.
Nassef Sawiris, executive chairman of OCI, commented: “Today’s announcement marks an evolutionary step in our journey to create value for shareholders, and to enhance our focus on efforts in lower carbon initiatives. IFCO was the first world-scale greenfield nitrogen fertilizer facility built in the United States in over 25 years. We are confident that under KAES’s stewardship, IFCO will be well positioned for its next phase of growth.”
OCI’s CEO Ahmed El Hoshy commented: “We are incredibly proud of IFCO’s extraordinary achievements since commissioning in April 2017 and want to thank all the OCI and IFCO employees who have contributed to this remarkable success. We are exceptionally proud to have single-handedly built a world-class global nitrogen facility and revitalized a core industry in the United States.”
Hassan Badrawi, CFO of OCI, added: “Combined with the recent sale of Fertiglobe, OCI is crystallizing $7.2 billion of tax-free gross cash proceeds. The resultant financial profile provides significant flexibility to achieve all OCI’s goals, including to explore future value accretive growth opportunities and to afford the ability to meaningfully return capital to shareholders.”
