Yara to sell its 50% stake in GrowHow UK

Yara International ASA, through its wholly owned subsidiary Yara UK Limited, has agreed with CF Industries to sell its stake in GrowHow UK Group Limited ("GrowHow") for a total enterprise value (50% basis) of USD 648 million, of which USD 68 million relates to an unfunded pension liability.

 

Yara and CF Industries have each owned 50% of GrowHow since 2007 and 2010 respectively. A shoot-out process defined in the shareholder agreement was triggered early 2015 and both Yara and CF Industries have bid for the assets during this process.

 

GrowHow has two production sites in Ince and Billingham with a total production capacity of approximately 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 fertilizer market. In 2014 GrowHow delivered an EBITDA of USD 156 million based on IFRS.

 

"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. Furthermore, Yara's growth strategy remains on track, as we work hard both to deliver already committed projects and to develop our pipeline of new opportunities," said Torgeir Kvidal, President and CEO of Yara.

 

The sale is expected to generate an after-tax gain reported within EBITDA of approximately NOK 3 billion calculated based on May figures. The gain will be impacted by changes to the net debt, net working capital and currency rates until closing. The completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.