PotashCorp requests more time for better offers to counter BHP

29 October 2010 21:09  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS)--Canadian fertilizer major PotashCorp has asked Saskatchewan provincial officials to uphold its shareholder rights plan while it seeks more time to find a white knight bid to counter BHP Billiton’s $39bn (€28bn) hostile takeover proposal, according to a filing made on Friday.

In a submission to the Saskatchewan Financial Services Commission (SFSC), PotashCorp said potential counter bidders to BHP needed more time to arrange funding for possible bids.

PotashCorp indicated that its advisors had talked with 15 potential suitors and identified several entities who could make realistic bids for the company, the world’s largest fertilizer maker.

PotashCorp’s request comes ahead of the 8 November hearing in the provincial capitol of Regina, where the regulatory body is to hear a complaint from BHP seeking to quash PotashCorp’s poison pill shareholder rights plan.

The hearing would not be necessary if Canada’s Industry Minister blocks BHP’s bid under the Investment Canada Act. That ruling is set to be delivered on 3 November in Ottawa.

($1 = €0.72)

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By: Frank Zaworski
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