Israel Chemicals buys out partner's 50-% stake in Belgium's Nutrisi

Israel Chemicals (ICL), a fertiliser and specialty chemicals company, today said that it is buying out its partner's 50-per cent stake in Nutrisi Holdings, to take full control of the Belgian firm.

Tel Aviv-based ICL, which bought the shares from Chile's SQM, did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

Nutrisi, a Belgian holding company, holds 50 per cent of NU3, the world's largest manufacturer of soluble NPK fertilizer components. NU3 owns two large manufacturing plants in Belgium and southern Holland, and sells its products throughout Europe and other global markets.

The other 50 per cent stake holder in NU3 is Norwegian fertiliser company Yara International.

This acquisition comes after ICL made strategic specialty fertilisers acquisitions during the year, including Everris, a multinational manufacturer and distributor of high-quality specialty fertilisers, and Fuentes Fertilizantes, Spain's largest manufacturer and distributor of soluble and liquid fertilisers.

It also follows the announcement by Zuari Rotem Specialty Fertilizers Ltd., ICL's joint venture operation in India, that it intends to expand the manufacturing capacity of its existing soluble fertilizer manufacturing plant and to establish two additional plants in northern and eastern India.