K+S Group Rejects Unsolicited Takeover Proposal From PotashCorp

(RTTNews) - German potash maker K+S Aktiengesellschaf or K+S Group's Board of Executive Directors and the Supervisory Board on Thursday rejected the unsolicited takeover proposal received from Canadian fertilizer giant Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, Inc. or PotashCorp (POT, POT.TO) after a thorough review of all aspects and considering the overall circumstances.

PotashCorp had made a private offer of 41 euro per share to acquire all outstanding shares of K+S Group on June 26 to negotiate an acquisition.

However, K+S Group has said the proposed deal does not reflect the fundamental value of K+S and is not in the best interest of the company.

K+S, which is developing a mine in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, likely rejected the offer as too low, as it does not take into account the potential synergies of the two companies.

PotashCorp.'s acquisition offer came amid lower prices for potash after the break-up in mid 2013 of an industry cartel that helped shape global prices. Prices for the fertilizer product could fall further unless demand picks up.

This was PotashCorp's second attempt to acquire K+S. An earlier bid by the company in 1997 was blocked by the German competition watchdog.

PotashCorp currently has a market capitalization of $25.8 billion, while K+S has a market capitalization of 7.1 billion euros.

In Thursday's regular trading session, POT is currently trading at $31.05, up $1.80 or 5.49% on a volume of 0.83 million shares

On Frankfurt's Xetra, K+S shares are trading at 36.75 euros, down 1.03 euros or 2.74% on a volume of 2.86 million shares.