Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Wall sells Crown Interest in Saskferco.

This is from the CBC.
When you add the money Wall gets from this privatization along with what he inherited from the NDP sale of its interest in a heavy oil upgrader there is a nice little nest egg. I have heard that to sweeten the deal Wall donated several tonnes of his election rhetorical bullshit about not selling Crown corporations to the Norwegian company.


Norwegian company to buy Saskferco for $1.6B
Last Updated: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 7:23 AM CT Saskferco Products Inc., one of North America's leading producers of nitrogen fertilizer, has been sold to a Norwegian company for approximately $1.6 billion.
It was announced late Monday afternoon that Yara International ASA will buy Saskferco from the Mosaic Co. and the Saskatchewan government, which jointly own the company.
"The timely sale of Saskferco will allow us to focus on our core businesses of potash and phosphates," said Mosaic president and CEO Jim Prokopanko.
Saskferco, which was created in the early 1990s, has a plant west of Regina.
Mosaic has a 51 per cent stake in the company and Investment Saskatchewan, a provincial Crown corporation, holds the remaining 49 per cent.
Provincial Enterprise Minister Lyle Stewart said the province will rake in more than $750 million in the sale. The cash is expected to be put toward reducing the provincial debt and boosting infrastructure.
"The proceeds from the parent company Mosaic's sale will largely be reinvested in the province too, we understand," said Stewart.
"So it's a win-win-win — $750 million for the province, a new high-profile investor in the province and further investment in our potash industry from Mosaic."
Saskferco went on the block last month at a time of booming interest in the fertilizer industry.
Yara is a global supplier of mineral fertilizers headquartered in Oslo.
The sale is subject to approvals under the Investment Canada Act and the Competition Act (Canada), although Stewart said he believes it's "pretty much a slam dunk."
The deal is expected to close in early October.

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