Fertiliser manufacturer to be sold in £371m deal
CHESHIRE-based fertiliser specialist GrowHow Group is on the verge of being sold to an American company for £371m.
Yara UK has agreed to sell its share 50% share of the company other 50% stakeholder CF Industries.
The two companies have owned the companies since 2007 and 2010, respectively. A shoot-out process defined in the shareholder agreement was triggered earlier this year and both bid for the assets of GrowHow.
GrowHow has two production sites in Ince and Billingham with a total production capacity of about 0.8 million tons of ammonia, 1.1 million tons of ammonium nitrate and 0.5 million tons of compound NPK.
With limited export possibilities, GrowHow primarily serves the UK fertiliser market, but in 2014 the company delivered an EBITDA of nearly £100m.
President and chief executive of CF Industries, Tony Will said: “The operations have an advantaged position in an import-dependent region.
“We know GrowHow well and expect a mid-teens return profile for the acquisition. The purchase of the remaining interest in GrowHow is a continuation of CF Industries’ track record of pursuing shareholder value-creating capital deployment.”
President and chief executive of Yara Torgeir Kvida said: “The final bid from CF represents an attractive value to Yara.
“We remain dedicated to British agriculture and look forward to continue to work with UK farmers to increase their yield and profitability with our high quality products and services.”
