RIO DE JANEIRO – Oct 5 Vale SA’s plan to dispose of fertilizer assets remains on track despite a request last week by Brazil’s state development bank, BNDES, to analyze the transaction more carefully, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation.
Terms of the deal, which involves the sale of certain assets to U.S.-based Mosaic Co, are unlikely to change significantly, one of the sources said on Wednesday, requesting anonymity to speak freely about the issue.
BNDES pushed back the vote on the fertilizer deal at a Vale board meeting last Thursday, the first person familiar with the situation said. O Globo columnist Lauro Jardim, without saying how the newspaper obtained the information, reported that day that BNDES had delayed the voting on the transaction to Oct. 20.
One of the people said Mosaic could pay about $3.6 billion for some of Vale’s fertilizer assets. The sale of other unspecified operations within Vale’s fertilizer unit is being negotiated with Norway’s Yara International ASA, the first person said, without elaborating.
Both Vale and BNDES, which are based in Rio de Janeiro, declined to comment, as did Mosaic. Yara said it did not comment on market speculation.
For the rest of this article, click here: http://www.reuters.com/article/vale-sa-ma-mosaic-fertilizers-idUSL2N1BR20K