Canada's Agrium buys 70-per cent stake in CMF for $50 million-plus

11 July 2008

Agricultural products specialist Agrium Inc has announced that it has bought a 70-per cent majority stake in Common Market Fertilizers SA, or CMF, one of Western Europe's fertilizer distribution companies. The Calgary firm closed the $50million plus working-capital purchase on 8 July.

Agrium noted that CMF has a large base of 1,500 customers, including retailers and cooperatives, across Europe and has annual sales revenues of about $600 million and crop nutrient sales volumes of 2 million to 2.5 million tonnes.

It operates through subsidiaries in France, Germany, Belgium, the UK, Italy and Bulgaria, and it also markets products in Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Greece, Denmark and South America. CMF owns and leases over 300 thousand tonnes of dry and liquid storage at both port and inland sites across much of Europe.

The deal "is key to expanding our international sourcing and distribution business," according to Agrium CEO Mike Wilson.

Agrium, which globally produces and markets the three primary plant nutrients - nitrogen, phosphate and potash - and is North America's third largest fertilizer maker, is looking forward to making long-term business deals overseas, a company executive explained.

"As you look at the global landscape, there are obviously some markets that are fairly large that we don't have a large presence in, and we feel that distribution is one of the best ways to enter new markets," said Andrew Mittag, Agrium's senior vice-president of corporate development and strategy.