Description

In recent years, the relevance of the potash industry grew as key branch to overcome challenges in world agriculture, nutrient industry and food shortage. Since agriculture is dependent on fed minerals the relevance of this industry sector rises. Few companies in this field share the world-market; thus, representing an interesting target for mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Recent transactions in the M&A industry reflect this development which is anticipated by global players with different outcome. In this paper, two transactions around 2010 are analyzed with different results. BHP Billiton PLC failed to overtake Potash Corp. due to a low offering price and government issues, whereas K+S AG succeeded in overtaking Potash One Inc. with a high premium.