BHP Denies Plan To Sell Potash Assets

BHP Billiton BHP denied comments Monday that it plans to sell off any of Potash Corp's IPI assets if it succeeds with its $38.6 billion bid for the world's largest fertilizer producer. If it decided to do so, BHP may find a ready buyer in Agrium Inc. AGU, a Canadian fertilizer maker and farm products retailer. Agrium indicated it would consider buying Potash Corp's nitrogen and phosphate assets, which are worth an estimated $12 billion. National Bank of Canada analyst Hari Sambasivam said at the Toronto briefing on 8/26 the company said that it had no plans to unload assets. Still, he also seemed unconvinced that BHP would necessarily keep all the assets long term. "We came away with the view that BHP will not move abruptly to monetize the non-Potash assets, although such a move may be contemplated over the long term," Sambasivam wrote in a note. Check out the full article over at Reuters.