CF Industries in merger talks with Dutch fertilizer manufacturer OCI

U.S. fertilizer maker CF Industries Holdings Inc. is in advanced merger talks with Amsterdam-listed chemical company OCI NV, the Wall Street Journal reported.
 

The tie-up could be reached as early as this month, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
 

Shares of CF Industries, which has a market value of about $14.8 billion, were up 7.4 percent at $67.22 after the report.
 

Both CF Industries and OCI were not immediately available to comment on the report.

 

The terms of the deal the two companies are discussing are unclear, and a transaction may not materialize, the WSJ said.
 

The deal may be structured as a so-called inversion -- a type of combination in which CF Industries moves its tax headquarters abroad, the Journal said.
 

OCI's market capitalization was $5.5 billion euros ($5.5 billion) based on the company's outstanding shares as of Dec. 30.