Israel Chemicals bought Grupo Empresarial Agromediterraneo, the holding company of Antonio Fuentes Mendez, Spain's largest producer of specialty fertilisers, for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition establishes ICL as the leading supplier of specialty fertilizers in the rapidly growing Spanish market. The purchase includes Fuentes' line of proprietary liquid and soluble fertilizers, its production facilities in Totana and Cartagena, Spain, as well as warehouses, port facilities and logistics centres in southern and eastern Spain.

Fuentes, which had revenue of €113 million in 2010, will become a part of ICL Specialty Fertilizers. ICL, a maker of fertilisers and specialty chemicals and the world's sixth-largest potash producer, said on Monday it financed the acquisition from its own resources.

Fuentes markets branded liquid and water soluble fertilizers mainly in southern and eastern Spain, which accounts for 75 percent of the Spanish market for specialty fertilisers. In these regions, sales of water-soluble fertilisers are growing by 8-12 percent annually, compared with relatively flat growth for traditional fertilisers.

The acquisition is the latest step in ICL's strategy to broaden its specialty fertilisers activity. It follows ICL's $270 million purchase of the global professional business of Scotts Miracle-Gro. These acquisitions establish ICL Specialty Fertilisers as a $650 million company with production facilities in the United States, European Union and Israel, and a particularly strong presence in Spain, the EU's largest consumer of specialty fertilisers. ICL said it intends to realise operating synergies from the acquisition, especially in the areas of marketing in the Spanish market, raw materials, R&D and logistics.

"The acquisition of Fuentes builds our presence in Spain - an important end-market as well as a strategic gateway to Northern Africa and the EU -- while building out our brands, sales, logistics and manufacturing capabilities," Yossi Zidon, senior vice president of ICL Specialty Fertilisers, said.