Will fertilizer war drag on after Friday?
No matter how proxy vote at Terra Industries’ shareholders’ meeting Friday turns out, the three-way fight between Terra, CF Industries and Agrium, called the “forever war” by some Wall Street analysts, has the potential to draw on for a very long time, if not forever.
In New York City Friday, Terra shareholders will decide whether to re-elect three incumbent board members or three challengers nominated by CF, which has been doggedly pursuing a hostile takeover of Terra since January. Check out my story online and in print Friday on what the loss of Terra’s Sioux City headquarters could mean for the community, “City leaders say much at stake in today’s vote.”
A CF victory presumably would put the Deerfield, Ill-based company in the driver’s seat to force a combination. But Terra, which would still control five of the eight seats on the board, could very well decide to try to fend off CF by launching additional defenses.
On the other hand, a Terra victory would more than likely allow the Sioux City-based company to remain independent. But some analysts expect CF to make one last significantly higher offer before throwing in the towel, however.
Canadian ag giant’s Agrium’s own pursuit of CF muddies the waters. On Thursday, Agrium announced that 62 percent of CF shareholders now back its $5.1 billion buyout offer, which had been scheduled to expire at midnight Wednesday “Majority of CF shareholders support Agrium bid.” Despite the widespread support, CF management still refuses to negotiate with Agrium.
It boils down to this. CF executives are refusing to do what the majority of its shareholders want. At the same time, they’re courting Terra shareholders to vote differently than Terra’s management is recommending.
Who will win in the end? We may know more Friday, or everything may become even less clear.
Watch this blog and siouxcityjournal.com for a report from the meeting. I’m particularly looking for Terra shareholders to talk to about their vote. Please email me at: davedreeszen@siouxcityjournal.com or call 712-293-4211.
Tags: Agrium, CF, fertilizer, Sioux City, takeover, Terra, Wall Street