United Phosphorus shares rise on Nufarm bid talk

Shares of United Phosphorus Ltd. rose as much as 9% on Wednesday amid reports that the Indian agrochemicals major was planning to bid for Australia's largest agriculture chemical company, Nufarm.

United Phosphorus may bid for Nufarm, a business news channel reported yesterday without naming the source of the information. United Phosphorus declined to comment on market speculation, the channel reported.

A financial daily reported today that the Mumbai-based United Phosphorus has started discussions with Nufarm after China National Chemical pulled out of an A$3bn (US$2.6bn) offer on Dec. 10.

China National Chemical had bid with a consortium that also included private equity giant Blackstone, the newspaper reported, adding that United Phosphorus could also rope in a private equity fund if it puts in a financial bid for Nufarm.

However, Nufarm denied that it was in talks with United Phosphorus or any other group for selling itself out.

Some industry analysts feel that Nufarm will eventually be taken over. The Australian company says it has been approached by a number of interested parties, though none has so far led to a formal offer.