Israeli minerals and specialty chemicals company ICL (TASE: ICL: NYSE: ICL) today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the South American plant nutrition business of Brazil-based Compass Minerals América do Sul S.A. ICL will pay $402 million including $109 million net debt and an earn-out of up to $16 million.
The plant nutrition business is the leading specialty plant nutrition business in Brazil and offers a broad range of solutions for plant nutrition and stimulation, soil treatment, seed treatment and plant health, covering all key Brazilian crops. The product portfolio includes enhanced efficiency fertilizers and controlled-release fertilizers, soil and foliar micronutrients, secondary nutrients, bio-stimulants, and adjuvants. The business has a presence in 25 out of 26 Brazilian states and serves more than 32,000 farms directly and indirectly, with direct-to-farm sales accounting for 50% of sales.
ICL president and CEO Raviv Zoller said, "This transaction, together with our recent acquisition of Fertiláqua in Brazil and our existing specialty plant nutrition business there, will position ICL as the leading specialty plant nutrition company in Brazil, one of the world’s fastest growing agriculture markets. This important next step delivers on our stated strategy of achieving leadership positions in high-growth specialty plant nutrition markets, such as Brazil, and also accelerates our progress toward long-term global leadership for our Innovative Ag Solutions division."
The acquisition is expected to close by the third quarter of 2021.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 24, 2021
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