NEW YORK/FRANKFURT, Oct 5 (Reuters) – Potash Corp of Saskatchewan said on Monday it had withdrawn its 7.9 billion euro ($8.9 bln) offer for German potash producer K+S , citing a decline in global commodity and equity markets and a lack of engagement by K+S management.
K+S shares dropped 24 percent after Potash announced its decision in a statement, wiping almost 1.5 billion euros off the company’s market value.
An acquisition of K+S would have given Potash Corp an opportunity to realize savings from selling potash within North America from its own Western Canada mines and from K+S’s Legacy mine, which is under construction in the region.
However, senior K+S executives dismissed the Canadian company’s 41-euro-per-share cash bid — which represented a 59 percent premium to the volume-weighted average of K+S’s share price during the prior 12 months — as too low and refused to negotiate.
Since Potash Corp made its offer to K+S privately at the end of May, shares of K+S peers have dropped by around 40 percent amid concerns over weakening demand from China, the world’s largest consumer of potash.