Potash vs. BHP: The Fertilizer War From A to Z

(TheStreet) -- BHP Billiton's BHP hostile pursuit of Potash Corp. POT has as many moving parts as a cuckoo clock. There are other clichés available for use. The BHP-Potash drama will likely have as many chapters as a Russian novel. Or as many twisting roads and hidden mews as the street plan of Inner London. In other words, it's tough to keep it all straight. Thus, we've compiled a handy slideshow primer -- a manual, a Cliff's Notes, an A-to-Z guidebook -- that breaks down and explains all the elements (people, places, issues, obstacles) that will play a role in determining this story's ultimate ending. It's a story, by the way, that also has a Big Theme and a lot at stake: ownership of some of the best sources of a most profitable crop nutrient and, therefore, a highly lucrative hold on the nourishment of the world's billions. It's perhaps appropriate that we've settled on the road-atlas metaphor. After all, BHP Billiton CEO Marius Kloppers has arrived in New York for a roadshow this week. Officially, he and his top aides are simply conducting their regularly scheduled post-earnings meetings with the company's biggest North America-based institutional investors. But it doesn't take much imagination to read between the lines. There's a large degree of overlap between the shareholder bases of both BHP and a certain fertilizer producer out of Saskatchewan -- both companies being mineral extractors on a global scale. With BHP having taken its hostile offer directly to shareholders nearly two weeks ago, it's hardly presumptuous to think that a certain $130-per-share offer will come up for discussion. Nor would it be outrageous to believe that, perhaps -- delicately, subtly -- BHP executives will be attempting to ascertain just what price will convince those big Potash shareholders to sell. Publicly, BHP is holding fast at $130. Almost no one believes that such an offer will get a deal done, barring some unforeseen event, though sentiment may have swung a bit lately. Potash shares rocketed as high as $150.20 in the days immediately after BHP's pursuit came to light. They have since retraced some of those gains. The stock was trading on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday afternoon at $147, down 25 cents, on lighter-than-usual volumes. To read the rest, head over to TheStreet.com