Chris McKay, Potash Corp. load-out supervisor at the Cory Mine, examines potash inside one of the storage facilities near Saskatoon, October 10, 2013.DAVID STOBBE/Reuters
K+S AG's chief financial officer is due to meet investors in Toronto on Sept. 16 as the $8.7-billion (U.S.) bid from Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. simmers, according to a memo viewed by The Globe and Mail.
The mid-September trip to Toronto comes after K+S executives made the rounds with its European investors this summer.
K+S has repeatedly said that the offer grossly undervalues its big potash project in Saskatchewan, called Legacy. Once operational, Legacy would compete with Potash Corp.'s mines in the province.
It is unclear who K+S's investors are in Toronto. The investor lunch on Sept. 16 will feature the German company's chief financial officer, Burkhard Lohr, and its head of investor relations, Thorsten Boeckers.
According to K+S, its retail and institutional investors support management's decision to reject the informal offer from Potash Corp.
K+S is the world's largest salt producer and the owner of higher-cost potash mines. The company, Europe's main potash supplier, fears that its bigger rival will cut jobs and reduce production. Potash Corp. has denied that assertion.
The Canadian company's bid of €41 ($61.37) a share represents a 57-per-cent premium over K+S's average stock price over the past year. Since the bid became public in June, the German company's stock has steadily declined and is now trading 20 per cent below the offer price.
Potash Corp. is the world's biggest fertilizer producer. Its chief executive officer has said Potash Corp. would sell K+S's Canadian potash through its marketing juggernaut, Canpotex. K+S has so far refused to join Canpotex, preferring to market its Canadian potash by itself.
Representatives of K+S and Potash Corp. did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Rachelle Younglai